Multi-user communication in wireless networks

ABSTRACT

An Access Point (AP) performs a Multi-User (MU) transmission by allocating a plurality of resources of an Up-Link (UL) MU transmission to a first plurality of stations, and by transmitting, using one or more 20 MHz channels, a Down-Link (DL) PHY Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU). The DL PPDU includes trigger information. The trigger information solicits the first plurality of stations to participate in the UL MU transmission using the allocated resources. All of the allocated resources may be in the one or more 20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU. The allocated resources may include at least one resource in each of the one or more 20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/152,497, filed Apr. 24, 2015, U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/214,127, filed Sep. 3, 2015, U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/173,893, filed Jun. 10, 2015, U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/181,141, filed Jun. 17, 2015, and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/214,867, filed Sep. 4, 2015.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The technology described herein relates generally to wirelessnetworking. More particularly, the technology relates to simultaneouscommunications between stations in a wireless network using one or moreof Multi-User (MU) Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) and MU OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technologies.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless LAN (WLAN) devices are currently being deployed in diverseenvironments. Some of these environments have large numbers of accesspoints (APs) and non-AP stations in geographically limited areas. Inaddition, WLAN devices are increasingly required to support a variety ofapplications such as video, cloud access, and offloading. In particular,video traffic is expected to be the dominant type of traffic in manyhigh efficiency WLAN deployments. With the real-time requirements ofsome of these applications, WLAN users demand improved performance indelivering their applications, including improved power consumption forbattery-operated devices.

A WLAN is being standardized by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers) Part 11 under the name of “Wireless LAN MediumAccess Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications.” A seriesof standards have been adopted as the WLAN evolved, including IEEE Std802.11™-2012 (March 2012) (IEEE 802.11n). The IEEE Std 802.11 wassubsequently amended by IEEE Std 802.11Ae™-2012, IEEE Std802.11Aa™-2012, IEEE Std 802.11Ad™-2012, and IEEE Std 802.11Ac™-2013(IEEE 802.11ac).

Recently, an amendment focused on providing a High Efficiency (HE) WLANin high-density scenarios is being developed by the IEEE 802.11ax taskgroup. The 802.11ax amendment focuses on improving metrics that reflectuser experience, such as average per station throughput, the 5thpercentile of per station throughput of a group of stations, and areathroughput. Improvements may be made to support environments such aswireless corporate offices, outdoor hotspots, dense residentialapartments, and stadiums.

An HE WLAN supports Down-Link (DL) and Up-Link (UL) Multi-User (MU)transmissions such as MU Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access(MU OFDMA) transmissions and Multi-User Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MUMIMO) transmissions.

In an UL MU transmission, an Access Point (AP) may transmit a framerequiring an immediate response to a plurality of stations, such as atrigger frame or another type of frame. In response, the plurality ofstations simultaneously transmit respective UL MU transmission frames tothe AP.

Each of UL MU OFDMA frames transmitted by the stations may include afirst portion transmitted across an entire bandwidth of a wirelesschannel and a second portion transmitted using only part of thebandwidth of the wireless channel. The respective first portions of theUL MU OFDMA frames are transmitted using a same range of frequencies(that is, using the same subchannels) as each other. In contrast, therespective second portions of the UL MU OFDMA frames are eachtransmitted using respective ranges of frequencies (that is, respectivesubchannels) allocated exclusively to each second portion.

A first WLAN device may transmit, over a channel, a frame that requiresacknowledgement by an intended recipient of the frame. A second WLANdevice that successfully receives the frame and that is the intendedrecipient of the frame may transmit an Acknowledgement (ACK) or a BlockAcknowledgment (BA) frame to the first WLAN device to indicate that theframe was successfully received.

However, when the second WLAN device does not successfully receive theframe, the ACK or BA frame is not transmitted. Furthermore, even whenthe ACK or BA frame is transmitted, the first WLAN may not successfullyreceive the ACK or BA frame.

When the first WLAN device does not receive the ACK or BA frame, thefirst WLAN device may retransmit the frame after i) performing a Backoffprocedure or a Point Coordination Function (PCF) IFS (PIFS) recovery,and 2) checking that the channel is idle. However, under somecircumstances, performing the Backoff procedure or PIFS recovery andchecking that the channel is idle may be unnecessary and may cause thecapacity of the channel to be used inefficiently.

In a WLAN that supports MU MIMO or MU OFDMA, a single transmission bythe first WLAN device may have a plurality of intended recipients andmay require a plurality of independent ACK or BA frames in response. Insuch a WLAN, under some circumstances, performing the Backoff procedureor PIFS recovery and checking that the channel is idle when an ACK or BAframe is not received may be unnecessary and may cause the capacity ofthe channel to be used inefficiently.

Furthermore, when an AP solicits an UL MU frame requiring a plurality ofimmediate responses from a plurality of stations, under somecircumstances, performing the Backoff procedure or PIFS recovery andchecking that the channel is idle when an ACK or BA frame is notreceived may be unnecessary and may cause the capacity of the channel tobe used inefficiently.

In a distributed wireless networks such as one operating according to anIEEE 802.11 standard, chances of multiple nearby stations transmittingsimultaneously may be significantly reduced by utilizing alisten-before-talk protocol. In this protocol, when a station intends totransmit a frame, the station listens to the wireless medium first, andthe station is allowed to transmit only when the wireless medium is notbusy. In an IEEE 802.11 standard, the condition for the wireless mediumbeing busy is extended to include virtual carrier sensing.

However, if the concept of random access is included into an IEEE 802.11standard, because the transmitter of a trigger frame for random accessdoes not know which station will participate in the random access,sometimes there will not be any responses to the trigger frame. Thislack of response may not work properly with virtual carrier sensing, andthus may increase collision probability.

A WLAN that supports MU MIMO or MU OFDMA may include a process toallocate resources to random access communications, wherein one or moreWLAN devices contend for use of the allocated resources without beingindividually scheduled to use the allocated resources. When atransmission by a WLAN device, such as an AP, explicitly or implicitlyallocates resources of a following period of time to Random Accesscommunication of other WLAN devices, performing a Backoff procedure orother error recovery procedure when no frames are received on theallocated resources may be unnecessary and may cause the capacity of thechannel to be used inefficiently.

When a WLAN device allocates resources to random access transmissions ofother WLAN devices, measures may need to be taken to prevent thechannels, including the allocated resources, from being sensed as idleby WLAN devices not involved in the Random Access communications, thatis, third party WLAN devices.

In distributed wireless networks such as a WLAN operated according to anIEEE 802.11 standard, a wireless medium is shared by many stations, andthus, packet transmission errors occur due to interference caused bymultiple stations transmitting SU packets simultaneously. When a packettransmission error occurs, a retransmission process defined in the IEEE802.11 standard may be performed.

However, when an UL MU simultaneous transmission is performed, aplurality of stations under an AP's control can simultaneously transmitto the AP in response to one or more trigger frames transmitted by theAP. For such UL MU transmissions, an IEEE 802.11n or 802.11ac schemeregarding the allocation of transmission bandwidth for response framesmay not work properly, especially when the AP transmits more than onetrigger frame simultaneously.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a method, implemented by an Access Point (AP), forperforming a Multi-User (MU) transmission comprises allocating, by theAP, a plurality of resources of an Up-Link (UL) MU transmission to afirst plurality of stations, and transmitting, by the AP using one ormore 20 MHz channels, a Down-Link (DL) PHY Layer Convergence Procedure(PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU). The DL PPDU includes triggerinformation. The trigger information solicits the first plurality ofstations to participate in the UL MU transmission using the allocatedresources. All of the allocated resources are in the one or more 20 MHzchannels of the DL PPDU.

In an embodiment, the allocated resources include at least one resourcein each of the one or more 20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU.

In an embodiment, a transmission bandwidth of a physical layer preamblepart of the response frame is the same as the transmission bandwidth ofa physical layer preamble part of the DL PPDU.

In an embodiment, the DL PPDU is a DL Multi-User (MU) PPDU.

In an embodiment, the trigger information is represented in a triggerMedium Access Control (MAC) Data Protocol Unit (MPDU) that solicits aresponse frame from a station of the first plurality of stations, andthe method further comprises allocating a resource of the UL MUtransmission to the response frame. The resource is outside of abandwidth of the trigger MPDU.

In an embodiment, the bandwidth of the trigger MPDU is a physical layerbandwidth, within the one or more 20 MHz channels, in which the triggerMPDU is physically encoded.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises including a second MPDUin the DL PPDU. The second MPDU is different from the trigger MPDU andoccupies a different bandwidth from the trigger MPDU.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises including an indicationof a bandwidth of the UL MU transmission in the trigger MPDU.

In an embodiment, the UL MU transmission is a UL Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (OFDMA) transmission.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises including, by the AP, anindication in the trigger information that all portions of the one ormore 20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU that are unallocated to a stationfor the UL MU transmission permit random access in the UL MUtransmission.

In an embodiment, in each 20 MHz channel at least one resource isallocated in the UL MU transmission that is not allocated for randomaccess.

In an embodiment, an apparatus comprises an Access Point (AP). The AP isconfigured to allocate a plurality of resources of an Up-Link (UL) MUtransmission to a first plurality of stations, and to transmit, usingone or more 20 MHz channels, a Down-Link (DL) PHY Layer ConvergenceProcedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU). The DL PPDU includes triggerinformation. The trigger information solicits the first plurality ofstations to participate in the UL MU transmission using the allocatedresources. The allocated resources include at least one resource in eachof the one or more 20 MHz channels.

In an embodiment, all of the allocated resources are in the one or more20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU.

In an embodiment, a transmission bandwidth of a physical layer preamblepart of the response frame is the same as the transmission bandwidth ofa physical layer preamble part of the DL PPDU.

In an embodiment, the DL PPDU is a DL Multi-User (MU) PPDU.

In an embodiment, the trigger information is represented in a triggerMedium Access Control (MAC) Data Protocol Unit (MPDU) that solicits aresponse frame from a station of the first plurality of stations. The APis configured to allocate a resource of the UL MU transmission to theresponse frame. The resource is outside of a bandwidth of the triggerMPDU.

In an embodiment, the bandwidth of the trigger MPDU is a physical layerbandwidth, within the one or more 20 MHz channels, in which the triggerMPDU is physically encoded.

In an embodiment, the AP is configured to include a second MPDU in theDL PPDU. The second MPDU is different from the trigger MPDU and occupiesa different bandwidth from the trigger MPDU.

In an embodiment, the AP is configured to include an indication of abandwidth of the UL MU transmission in the trigger MPDU.

In an embodiment, the UL MU transmission is a UL Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (OFDMA) transmission.

In an embodiment, the AP is configured to include an indication in thetrigger information that all portions of the one or more 20 MHz channelsof the DL PPDU that are unallocated to a station for the UL MUtransmission permit random access in the UL MU transmission.

In an embodiment, in each 20 MHz channel at least one resource isallocated in the UL MU transmission that is not allocated for randomaccess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless device according to anembodiment.

FIG. 3A illustrates components of a wireless device configured totransmit data according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3B illustrates components of a wireless device configured toreceive data according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates Inter-Frame Space (IFS) relationships.

FIG. 5 illustrates a Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance(CSMA/CA) based frame transmission procedure.

FIG. 6A shows a transmission sequence for a Down-Link (DL) Multi-User(MU) communication.

FIG. 6B shows a transmission sequence including a transmission error fora DL MU communication.

FIG. 7 illustrates a process for performing DL MU transmissionsaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a DL MU transmission sequence according to anembodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process for handling a transmission failure of a DLOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) PHY LayerConvergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), according to anembodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process for handling a transmission failure of aDL OFDMA PPDU, according to another embodiment.

FIG. 11A illustrates an operation in which DL MU and Up-Link (UL) MUtransmissions are combined in a cascaded manner.

FIG. 11B illustrates a cascaded DL/UL MU transmission operation in whicha transmission error occurs.

FIG. 12 illustrates a cascaded DL/UL MU transmission operation in whicha transmission error occurs, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process for handling a transmission failure of aDL PPDU, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates a process for handling a transmission failure of aDL MU PPDU, according to another embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates an UL MU transmission.

FIG. 16 illustrates allocation issues that may arise under the IEEE802.11n and 802.11ac standards.

FIG. 17 illustrates an allocation according to an embodiment.

FIG. 18 illustrates another allocation according to an embodiment.

FIG. 19 illustrates another allocation according to an embodiment.

FIG. 20 illustrates another allocation according to an embodiment.

FIG. 21 illustrates another allocation according to an embodiment.

FIG. 22 illustrates another allocation according to an embodiment.

FIG. 23 illustrates a process for performing MU communications accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 24 illustrates an UL MU simultaneous transmission.

FIG. 25 illustrates an UL MU transmission including a random accesschannel according to an embodiment

FIG. 26A illustrates an operation wherein an AP initiates a TXOP bysending a data frame and does not receive a response.

FIG. 26B illustrates an operation wherein an AP initiates a TXOP bysending a trigger frame and does not receive a response, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 27 illustrates an operation of an UL MU transmission includingrandom access channels according to an embodiment.

FIG. 28 illustrates an allocation of building blocks in a frame whereinunallocated resources may be used for random access, according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technology described herein relates generally to wirelessnetworking. More particularly, the technology relates to simultaneouscommunications between stations in a wireless network using one or moreof Multi-User (MU) Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) and MU OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technologies.

In the following detailed description, certain illustrative embodimentshave been illustrated and described. As those skilled in the art wouldrealize, these embodiments may be modified in various different wayswithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly,the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative innature and not restrictive. Like reference numerals designate likeelements in the specification.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network according to an embodiment. Thewireless network includes an infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) 100of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). In an 802.11 wireless LAN(WLAN), the BSS provides the basic organizational unit and typicallyincludes an Access Point (AP) and one or more associated stations(STAs). In FIG. 1, the BSS 100 includes an Access Point 102 (alsoreferred to as the AP) wirelessly communicating with first, second,third, and fourth wireless devices (or stations) 104, 106, 108, and 110(also referred to as stations STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4, respectively).The wireless devices may each include a medium access control layer(MAC) and a physical layer (PHY) according to an IEEE 802.11 standard.

Although FIG. 1 shows the BSS 100 including only the first to fourthstations STA1 to STA4, embodiments are not limited thereto and maycomprise BSSs including any number of stations.

The AP 102 is a station, that is, a STA, configured to control andcoordinate functions of the BSS 100. The AP 102 may transmit informationto a single station selected from the plurality of stations STA1 to STA4in the BSS 100 using a single frame, or may simultaneously transmitinformation to two or more of the stations STA1 to STA4 in the BSS 100using either a single Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)broadcast frame, a single OFDM Multi-User Multi-Input-Multi-Output(MU-MIMO) transmission, a single Orthogonal Frequency Division MultipleAccess (OFDMA) frame, or a single transmission performed using bothOFDMA and MU-MIMO.

The stations STA1 to STA4 may each transmit data to the AP 102 using asingle frame, or transmit information to and receive information fromeach other using a single frame. Two or more of the stations STA1 toSTA4 may simultaneously transmit data to the AP 102 using an Uplink (UL)OFDMA frame. When the BSS 100 supports MU-MIMO, two or more of thestations STA1 to STA4 may simultaneously transmit data to the AP 102using an UL MU-MIMO frame.

In another embodiment, the AP 102 may be absent and the stations STA1 toSTA4 may be in an ad-hoc network.

Each of the stations STA1 to STA4 and the AP 102 includes a processorand a transceiver, and may further include a user interface and adisplay device.

The processor is configured to generate a frame to be transmittedthrough a wireless network, to process a frame received through thewireless network, and to execute protocols of the wireless network. Theprocessor may perform some or all of its functions by executing computerprogramming instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readablemedium. The transceiver represents a unit functionally connected to theprocessor, and designed to transmit and receive a frame through thewireless network.

The transceiver may include a single component that performs thefunctions of transmitting and receiving, or two separate components eachperforming one of such functions. The processor and transceiver of thestations STA1 to STA4 and the AP 102 may be respectively implementedusing hardware components, software components, or both.

The AP 102 may be or may include a WLAN router, a stand-alone AccessPoint, a WLAN bridge, a Light-Weight Access Point (LWAP) managed by aWLAN controller, and the like. In addition, a device such as a personalcomputer, tablet computer, or cellular phone may configured able tooperate as the AP 102, such as when a cellular phone is configured tooperate as a wireless “hot spot.”

Each of the stations STA1 to STA4 may be or may include a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet PC, a wireless phone, a mobilephone, a smart phone, an e-book reader, a Portable Multimedia Player(PMP), a portable game console, a navigation system, a digital camera, aDigital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) player, a digital audio recorder,a digital audio player, a digital picture recorder, a digital pictureplayer, a digital video recorder, a digital video player, and the like.

The present disclosure may be applied to WLAN systems according to IEEE802.11 standards but embodiments are not limited thereto.

In IEEE 802.11 standards, frames exchanged between stations (includingaccess points) are classified into management frames, control frames,and data frames. A management frame may be a frame used for exchangingmanagement information that is not forwarded to a higher layer of acommunication protocol stack. A control frame may be a frame used forcontrolling access to a medium. A data frame may be a frame used fortransmitting data to be forwarded to the higher layer of thecommunication protocol stack.

A type and subtype of a frame may be identified using a type field and asubtype field included in a control field of the frame, as prescribed inthe applicable standard.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a wireless device 200according to an embodiment. The wireless or WLAN device 200 may beincluded in the AP 102 or any of the stations STA1 to STA4 in FIG. 1.The WLAN device 200 includes a baseband processor 210, a radio frequency(RF) transceiver 240, an antenna unit 250, a storage device (e.g.,memory) 232, one or more input interfaces 234, and one or more outputinterfaces 236. The baseband processor 210, the memory 232, the inputinterfaces 234, the output interfaces 236, and the RF transceiver 240may communicate with each other via a bus 260.

The baseband processor 210 performs baseband signal processing, andincludes a MAC processor 212 and a PHY processor 222. The basebandprocessor 210 may utilize the storage device 232, which may include anon-transitory computer readable medium having software (e.g., computerprogramming instructions) and data stored therein.

In an embodiment, the MAC processor 212 includes a MAC softwareprocessing unit 214 and a MAC hardware processing unit 216. The MACsoftware processing unit 214 may implement a first plurality offunctions of the MAC layer by executing MAC software, which may beincluded in the software stored in the storage device 232. The MAChardware processing unit 216 may implement a second plurality offunctions of the MAC layer in special-purpose hardware. However, the MACprocessor 212 is not limited thereto. For example, the MAC processor 212may be configured to perform the first and second plurality of functionsentirely in software or entirely in hardware according to animplementation.

The PHY processor 222 includes a transmitting signal processing unit(SPU) 224 and a receiving SPU 226. The PHY processor 222 implements aplurality of functions of the PHY layer. These functions may beperformed in software, hardware, or a combination thereof according toan implementation.

Functions performed by the transmitting SPU 224 may include one or moreof Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoding, stream parsing into one ormore spatial streams, diversity encoding of the spatial streams into aplurality of space-time streams, spatial mapping of the space-timestreams to transmit chains, inverse Fourier Transform (iFT) computation,Cyclic Prefix (CP) insertion to create a Guard Interval (GI), and thelike.

The RF transceiver 240 includes an RF transmitter 242 and an RF receiver244. The RF transceiver 240 is configured to transmit first informationreceived from the baseband processor 210 to the WLAN, and provide secondinformation received from the WLAN to the baseband processor 210.

The antenna unit 250 includes one or more antennas. When Multiple-InputMultiple-Output (MIMO) or Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) is used, the antennaunit 250 may include a plurality of antennas. In an embodiment, theantennas in the antenna unit 250 may operate as a beam-formed antennaarray. In an embodiment, the antennas in the antenna unit 250 may bedirectional antennas, which may be fixed or steerable.

The input interfaces 234 receive information from a user, and the outputinterfaces 236 output information to the user. The input interfaces 234may include one or more of a keyboard, keypad, mouse, touchscreen, touchscreen, microphone, and the like. The output interfaces 236 may includeone or more of a display device, touch screen, speaker, and the like.

As described herein, many functions of the WLAN device 200 may beimplemented in either hardware or software. Which functions areimplemented in software and which functions are implemented in hardwarewill vary according to constraints imposed on a design. The constraintsmay include one or more of design cost, manufacturing cost, time tomarket, power consumption, available semiconductor technology, and soon.

As described herein, a wide variety of electronic devices, circuits,firmware, software, and combinations thereof may be used to implementthe functions of the components of the WLAN device 200. Furthermore, theWLAN device 200 may include other components, such as applicationprocessors, storage interfaces, clock generator circuits, power supplycircuits, and the like, which have been omitted in the interest ofbrevity.

FIG. 3A illustrates components of a wireless device configured totransmit data according to an embodiment, including a Transmitting (Tx)SPU (TxSP) 324, an RF transmitter 342, and an antenna 352. In anembodiment, the TxSP 324, the RF transmitter 342, and the antenna 352correspond to the transmitting SPU 224, the RF transmitter 242, and anantenna of the antenna unit 250 of FIG. 2, respectively.

The TxSP 324 includes an encoder 300, an interleaver 302, a mapper 304,an inverse Fourier transformer (IFT) 306, and a guard interval (GI)inserter 308.

The encoder 300 receives and encodes input data DATA. In an embodiment,the encoder 300 includes a forward error correction (FEC) encoder. TheFEC encoder may include a binary convolutional code (BCC) encoderfollowed by a puncturing device. The FEC encoder may include alow-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder.

The TxSP 324 may further include a scrambler for scrambling the inputdata before the encoding is performed by the encoder 300 to reduce theprobability of long sequences of 0s or 1s. When the encoder 300 performsthe BCC encoding, the TxSP 324 may further include an encoder parser fordemultiplexing the scrambled bits among a plurality of BCC encoders. IfLDPC encoding is used in the encoder, the TxSP 324 may not use theencoder parser.

The interleaver 302 interleaves the bits of each stream output from theencoder 300 to change an order of bits therein. The interleaver 302 mayapply the interleaving only when the encoder 300 performs the BCCencoding, and otherwise may output the stream output from the encoder300 without changing the order of the bits therein.

The mapper 304 maps the sequence of bits output from the interleaver 302to constellation points. If the encoder 300 performed LDPC encoding, themapper 304 may also perform LDPC tone mapping in addition to theconstellation mapping.

When the TxSP 324 performs a MIMO or MU-MIMO transmission, the TxSP 324may include a plurality of interleavers 302 and a plurality of mappers304 according to a number NSS of spatial streams of the transmission.The TxSP 324 may further include a stream parser for dividing the outputof the encoder 300 into blocks and may respectively send the blocks todifferent interleavers 302 or mappers 304. The TxSP 324 may furtherinclude a space-time block code (STBC) encoder for spreading theconstellation points from the spatial streams into a number NSTS ofspace-time streams and a spatial mapper for mapping the space-timestreams to transmit chains. The spatial mapper may use direct mapping,spatial expansion, or beamforming.

The IFT 306 converts a block of the constellation points output from themapper 304 (or, when MIMO or MU-MIMO is performed, the spatial mapper)to a time domain block (i.e., a symbol) by using an inverse discreteFourier transform (IDFT) or an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). Ifthe STBC encoder and the spatial mapper are used, the IIFT 306 may beprovided for each transmit chain.

When the TxSP 324 performs a MIMO or MU-MIMO transmission, the TxSP 324may insert cyclic shift diversities (CSDs) to prevent unintentionalbeamforming. The TxSP 324 may perform the insertion of the CSD before orafter the IFT 306. The CSD may be specified per transmit chain or may bespecified per space-time stream. Alternatively, the CSD may be appliedas a part of the spatial mapper.

When the TxSP 324 performs a MIMO or MU-MIMO transmission, some blocksbefore the spatial mapper may be provided for each user.

The GI inserter 308 prepends a GI to each symbol produced by the IFT306. Each GI may include a Cyclic Prefix (CP) corresponding to arepeated portion of the end of the symbol the GI precedes. The TxSP 324may optionally perform windowing to smooth edges of each symbol afterinserting the GI.

The RF transmitter 342 converts the symbols into an RF signal andtransmits the RF signal via the antenna 352. When the TxSP 324 performsa MIMO or MU-MIMO transmission, the GI inserter 308 and the RFtransmitter 342 may be provided for each transmit chain.

FIG. 3B illustrates components of a wireless device configured toreceive data according to an embodiment, including a Receiver (Rx) SPU(RxSP) 326, an RF receiver 344, and an antenna 354. In an embodiment,the RxSP 326, RF receiver 344, and antenna 354 may correspond to thereceiving SPU 226, the RF receiver 244, and an antenna of the antennaunit 250 of FIG. 2, respectively.

The RxSP 326 includes a GI remover 318, a Fourier transformer (FT) 316,a demapper 314, a deinterleaver 312, and a decoder 310.

The RF receiver 344 receives an RF signal via the antenna 354 andconverts the RF signal into symbols. The GI remover 318 removes the GIfrom each of the symbols. When the received transmission is a MIMO orMU-MIMO transmission, the RF receiver 344 and the GI remover 318 may beprovided for each receive chain.

The FT 316 converts each symbol (that is, each time domain block) into afrequency domain block of constellation points by using a discreteFourier transform (DFT) or a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The FT 316may be provided for each receive chain.

When the received transmission is the MIMO or MU-MIMO transmission, theRxSP 326 may include a spatial demapper for converting the respectiveoutputs of the FTs 316 of the receiver chains to constellation points ofa plurality of space-time streams, and an STBC decoder for despreadingthe constellation points from the space-time streams into one or morespatial streams.

The demapper 314 demaps the constellation points output from the FT 316or the STBC decoder to bit streams. If the received transmission wasencoded using the LDPC encoding, the demapper 314 may further performLDPC tone demapping before performing the constellation demapping.

The deinterleaver 312 deinterleaves the bits of each stream output fromthe demapper 314. The deinterleaver 312 may perform the deinterleavingonly when the received transmission was encoded using the BCC encoding,and otherwise may output the stream output by the demapper 314 withoutperforming deinterleaving.

When the received transmission is the MIMO or MU-MIMO transmission, theRxSP 326 may use a plurality of demappers 314 and a plurality ofdeinterleavers 312 corresponding to the number of spatial streams of thetransmission. In this case, the RxSP 326 may further include a streamdeparser for combining the streams output from the deinterleavers 312.

The decoder 310 decodes the streams output from the deinterleaver 312 orthe stream deparser. In an embodiment, the decoder 312 includes an FECdecoder. The FEC decoder may include a BCC decoder or an LDPC decoder.

The RxSP 326 may further include a descrambler for descrambling thedecoded data. When the decoder 310 performs the BCC decoding, the RxSP326 may further include an encoder deparser for multiplexing the datadecoded by a plurality of BCC decoders. When the decoder 310 performsthe LDPC decoding, the RxSP 326 may not use the encoder deparser.

Before making a transmission, wireless devices such as wireless device200 will assess the availability of the wireless medium using ClearChannel Assessment (CCA). If the medium is occupied, CCA may determinethat it is busy, while if the medium is available, CCA determines thatit is idle.

FIG. 4 illustrates Inter-Frame Space (IFS) relationships. FIG. 4illustrates a Short IFS (SIFS), a Point Coordination Function (PCF) IFS(PIFS), a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) IFS (DIFS), and anArbitration IFSs corresponding to an Access Category (AC) ‘i’ (AIFS[i]).FIG. 4 also illustrates a slot time.

A data frame is used for transmission of data forwarded to a higherlayer. The WLAN device transmits the data frame after performing backoffif a DIFS has elapsed during which DIFS the medium has been idle.

A management frame is used for exchanging management information, whichis not forwarded to the higher layer. Subtype frames of the managementframe include a beacon frame, an association request/response frame, aprobe request/response frame, and an authentication request/responseframe.

A control frame is used for controlling access to the medium. Subtypeframes of the control frame include a request to send (RTS) frame, aclear to send (CTS) frame, and an acknowledgement (ACK) frame.

When the control frame is not a response frame of another frame, theWLAN device transmits the control frame after performing backoff if aDIFS has elapsed during which DIFS the medium has been idle. When thecontrol frame is the response frame of another frame, the WLAN devicetransmits the control frame after a SIFS has elapsed without performingbackoff or checking whether the medium is idle.

A WLAN device that supports a Quality of Service (QoS) functionality(that is, a QoS station) may transmit the frame after performing backoffif an AIFS for an associated access category (AC), (AIFS[AC]), haselapsed. When transmitted by the QoS station, any of the data frame, themanagement frame, and the control frame which is not the response framemay use the AIFS[AC] of the AC of the transmitted frame.

A WLAN device may perform a backoff procedure when the WLAN device thatis ready to transfer a frame finds the medium busy. In addition, a WLANdevice operating according to the IEEE 802.11n and 802.11ac standardsmay perform the backoff procedure when the WLAN device infers that atransmission of a frame by the WLAN device has failed.

The backoff procedure includes determining a random backoff timecomposed of N backoff slots, each backoff slot having a duration equalto a slot time and N being an integer number greater than or equal tozero. The backoff time may be determined according to a length of aContention Window (CW). In an embodiment, the backoff time may bedetermined according to an AC of the frame. All backoff slots occurfollowing a DIFS or Extended IFS (EIFS) period during which the mediumis determined to be idle for the duration of the period.

When the WLAN device detects no medium activity for the duration of aparticular backoff slot, the backoff procedure shall decrement thebackoff time by the slot time. When the WLAN determines that the mediumis busy during a backoff slot, the backoff procedure is suspended untilthe medium is again determined to be idle for the duration of a DIFS orEIFS period. The WLAN device may perform transmission or retransmissionof the frame when the backoff timer reaches zero.

The backoff procedure operates so that when multiple WLAN devices aredeferring and execute the backoff procedure, each WLAN device may selecta backoff time using a random function, and the WLAN device selectingthe smallest backoff time may win the contention, reducing theprobability of a collision.

FIG. 5 illustrates a Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance(CSMA/CA) based frame transmission procedure for avoiding collisionbetween frames in a channel according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 shows afirst station STA1 transmitting data, a second station STA2 receivingthe data, and a third station STA3 that may be located in an area wherea frame transmitted from the STA1, a frame transmitted from the secondstation STA2, or both can be received. The stations STA1, STA2, and STA3may be WLAN devices.

The STA1 may determine whether the channel is busy by carrier sensing.The STA1 may determine the channel occupation based on an energy levelin the channel or an autocorrelation of signals in the channel, or maydetermine the channel occupation by using a network allocation vector(NAV) timer.

After determining that the channel is not used by other devices (thatis, that the channel is IDLE) during a DIFS (and performing backoff ifrequired), the STA1 may transmit a Ready-To-Send (RTS) frame to thesecond station STA2. Upon receiving the RTS frame, after a SIFS thesecond station STA2 may transmit a Clear-To-Send (CTS) frame as aresponse of the RTS frame.

When the third station STA3 receives the RTS frame, it may set a NAVtimer of the third station STA3 for a transmission duration ofsubsequently transmitted frames (for example, a duration of SIFS+CTSframe duration+SIFS+data frame duration+SIFS+ACK frame duration) usingduration information included in the RTS frame. When the third stationSTA3 receives the CTS frame, it may set the NAV timer of the thirdstation STA3 for a transmission duration of subsequently transmittedframes using duration information included in the CTS frame. Uponreceiving a new frame before the NAV timer expires, the third stationSTA3 may update the NAV timer of the third station STA3 by usingduration information included in the new frame. The third station STA3does not attempt to access the channel until the NAV timer expires.

When the STA1 receives the CTS frame from the second station STA2, itmay transmit a data frame to the second station STA2 after SIFS elapsesfrom a time when the CTS frame has been completely received. Uponsuccessfully receiving the data frame, the second station STA2 maytransmit an ACK frame as a response of the data frame after SIFSelapses.

When the NAV timer expires, the third station STA3 may determine whetherthe channel is busy using the carrier sensing. Upon determining that thechannel is not used by other devices during a DIFS after the NAV timerhas expired, the third station STA3 may attempt to access the channelafter a contention window according to a backoff process elapses.

FIG. 6A shows a transmission sequence 600 for a Down-Link (DL)Multi-User (MU) communication. An AP transmits a DL Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (OFDMA) data transmission 602 to a firststation STA1 and a second station STA2 within an ongoing TransmissionOpportunity (TXOP). The DL OFDMA transmission 602 includes a first DLpreamble 604 and a payload, the payload including a first data frame 606intended for the first station STA1 and a second data frame 608 intendedfor the second station STA2.

The AP allocates an entire transmission bandwidth of a first portion ofthe DL OFDMA transmission 602 to the first DL preamble 604. The APallocates a lower half of the transmission bandwidth of a second portionof the DL OFDMA transmission 602 to the first data frame 606. The APallocates an upper half of the transmission bandwidth of the secondportion of the DL OFDMA transmission 602 to the second data frame 608.

When both the first station STA1 and the second station STA2successfully received the DL OFDMA transmission 602, a firstpredetermined time T1 after the AP completes the DL OFDMA transmission602 both the first station STA1 and the second station STA2 may send anUp-Link (UL) OFDMA acknowledgement transmission comprised of a first ULtransmission 612 and a second UL transmission 622. The first ULtransmission 612 may be transmitted by the first station STA1 and thesecond UL transmission 622 may be transmitted by the second stationSTA2. The first UL transmission 612 and a second UL transmission 622 maybe transmitted simultaneously and may air-combine in the channel to formthe UL OFDMA acknowledgement transmission. The first predetermined timeT1 may be a SIFS.

The first UL transmission 612 includes a first UL preamble 614 occupyingan entire transmission bandwidth of a first portion of the first ULtransmission 612, and a first Block Acknowledgement (BA) frame 616occupying a lower half of the transmission bandwidth of a second portionof the first UL transmission 612.

The second UL transmission 622 includes a second UL preamble 624occupying an entire transmission bandwidth of a first portion of thesecond UL transmission 622, and a second BA frame 626 occupying an upperhalf of the transmission bandwidth of a second portion of the second ULtransmission 622.

Durations of the first and second portions of the first UL transmission612 may be the same as durations of the first and second portions of thesecond UL transmission 622, respectively. In an embodiment, the first ULpreamble 614 is identical to the second UL preamble 624.

Upon receiving the UL OFDMA acknowledgement transmission, the AP infersthat the first data frame 606 and the second data frame 608 have beensuccessfully communicated.

FIG. 6B shows a transmission sequence 600′ for a DL MU communication. Inthe transmission sequence 600′, the AP infers that the first stationSTA1 did not successfully receive the DL OFDMA transmission 602, eitherbecause i) the first station STA1 did not successfully receive the DLOFDMA transmission 602 and therefore did not transmit first ULtransmission 612, or ii) because when the first station STA1 didsuccessfully receive the DL OFDMA transmission 602, the AP does notsuccessfully receive the first BA frame 616 of FIG. 6A.

According to an IEEE 802.11 Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA)backoff procedure, when the AP did not receive the first BA frame 616 inthe prescribed period of time, the AP may perform a PIFS recovery orperform a backoff as a response to a transmission failure within theTXOP. The detailed procedure for the ACK procedure and multiple frametransmission in an EDCA TXOP are described below:

After transmitting a MAC Data Protocol Unit (MPDU) that requires an ACKor BA frame as a response, such as the first data frame 606, a station(in FIG. 6B, an AP) waits for an AckTimeout interval. If aPHY-RXSTART.indication primitive indicating a start of reception of aframe does not occur during the AckTimeout interval, the stationconcludes that the transmission of the MPDU has failed, and the stationinvokes its backoff procedure upon expiration of the AckTimeoutinterval.

When a PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive does occur during the AckTimeoutinterval, the station shall wait for the correspondingPHY-RXEND.indication primitive indicating an end of reception of theframe to determine whether the MPDU transmission was successful. Therecognition of a valid ACK frame sent by the recipient of the MPDUrequiring acknowledgment, corresponding to the PHY-RXEND.indicationprimitive, shall be interpreted as a successful acknowledgment,permitting the frame sequence to continue, or to end without retries, asappropriate for the particular frame sequence in progress. Therecognition of anything else, including any other valid frame, shall beinterpreted as a failure of the MPDU transmission.

After a valid response to the initial frame of a TXOP, if theDuration/ID field is set for multiple frame transmission and there is asubsequent transmission failure, the corresponding channel accessfunction of the station may transmit after the Carrier Sense (CS)mechanism indicates that the medium is idle at the TxPIFS slot boundary,provided that the duration of that transmission plus the duration of anyexpected acknowledgment and applicable IFS is less than the remainingTransmission Network Allocation Vector (TXNAV) timer value.

As a result, based on the conventional ACK procedure, after the AP sentthe data frames 606 and 608, the AP received a valid response only fromthe second station STA2 for the second data frame 608, which impliesthat PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive occurred during the AckTimeoutinterval. However, at the end of the acknowledgement frame receptionsent from the second station STA2, the AP did not receive any valid ACKfrom the first station STA1 for the first data frame 606, which shall beinterpreted as a failure of the MPDU transmission of the first dataframe 606.

Because of the MPDU transmission failure, the AP may perform a PIFSrecovery procedure. Therefore, in FIG. 6B, when the AP received anacknowledgement frame from the second station STA2, the AP checks for asecond predetermined time T2 (which may equal a PIFS) whether the mediumis idle, and when the medium is idle, the AP performs a DL transmission632 including a second DL preamble 634 and the retransmitted first dataframe 606′.

In response, the first station STA1 performs an UL transmission 642including a third UL preamble 644 and a third BA frame 646 beginning atthe first predetermined time T1 after successfully received the DLtransmission 632.

As shown in FIG. 6B, if the acknowledgement frames are sent back in ULMU transmission manner, such as an UL OFDMA transmission, unless the APreceives acknowledgement frames from all of the stations scheduled for aDL MU transmission, the AP shall perform either a PIFS recovery or abackoff as a response to a transmission failure when the AP is within aTXOP. However, when the AP sends a DL MU PHY Layer Convergence Procedure(PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) and receives acknowledgement framesfrom some part of the target stations of the DL MU PPDU, the wirelessmedium is continuously occupied by the DL MU transmission sequenceduring not only the DL transmission and also during the ULacknowledgement frame transmission. Therefore, performing PIFS recoveryor backoff in this situation only increases the overall delay andincreases the likelihood that the already-obtained TXOP will beinterrupted by a third party station, which may reduce the overallperformance of the WLAN.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include apparatus and methods forerror recovery process for DL MU transmission to prevent this potentialreduction of performance.

FIG. 7 illustrates a process 700 for performing MU DL transmissions in aTXOP according to an embodiment. The process 700 may be performed by anAP.

At S702, an AP performing the process 700 sends multiple frames torespectively multiple stations simultaneously in a DL MU transmissionperformed during a TXOP. The AP expects immediate respective responseframes (such as ACK frames) from the receivers of the frames. Theexpected response frames are to be transmitted back to the AP in an ULMU transmission.

At S704, the process 700 attempts to receive the expected responseframes for a predetermined time after the DL MU transmission. Theexpected response frames, if any, are included in an UL MU transmission.In an embodiment, the predetermined time is an AckTimeout interval.

At S706, the process 700 determines whether all the expected responseframes were received in a PPDU for which reception started during thepredetermined time after the DL MU transmission. When the AP determinesthat all the expected response frames were received, the AP determinesthat a successful acknowledgement has occurred and the process 700proceeds to S708. Otherwise, at S706 the process 700 proceeds to S710.

At S708, the process 700 can continue by performing other frametransmission procedures as regular multiple frame transmission in anEDCA TXOP. The other frame transmissions may include DL MU transmissionsperformed according to the process 700.

At S710, the process 700 determines whether at least one of the expectedresponse frames where received. If at least one of the expected responseframes where received, the process 700 proceeds to S712. Otherwise, atS710 the process 700 proceeds to S714.

At S712, since at least one of the expected response frames received inpredetermined time after DL MU transmission, the AP can include the oneor more frames of the DL MU transmission of S702 that did not receiverespective response frames in a queue of other frames to be transmitted.The process 700 then proceeds to S708.

At S714, because none of the expected response frames was received inthe predetermined time after the DL MU transmission, the AP determinesthat the whole DL MU transmission has failed, and the AP may initiate aretransmission procedure as a response to the transmission failurewithin the TXOP.

FIG. 8 illustrates a DL MU transmission sequence 800 according to anembodiment, wherein one of receivers of a DL MU transmission does notsuccessfully receive a respective DL data frame. An AP transmits a DLOFDMA data transmission 802 to a first station STA1 and a second stationSTA2 within an ongoing Transmission Opportunity (TXOP). The DL OFDMAtransmission 802 includes a first DL preamble 804, a first data frame806 intended for the first station STA1, and second data frame 808intended for the second station STA2.

The AP allocates an entire transmission bandwidth of a first portion ofa DL OFDMA transmission 802 to a first DL preamble 804. The AP allocatesa lower half of the transmission bandwidth of a second portion of the DLOFDMA transmission 802 to a first data frame 806. The AP allocates anupper half of the transmission bandwidth of the second portion of the DLOFDMA transmission 802 to the second data frame 808.

The second station STA2 successfully receives the second data frame 808of the DL OFDMA transmission 802. In response, a first predeterminedtime T1 after the AP completes the DL OFDMA transmission 802, the secondstation STA2 transmits an UL OFDMA acknowledgement transmissioncomprised a first UL transmission 824.

The first UL transmission 822 includes a first UL preamble 824 occupyingan entire transmission bandwidth of a first portion of the first ULtransmission 822, and a first BA frame 826 occupying an upper half ofthe transmission bandwidth of a second portion of the first ULtransmission 822.

However, either because the first station STA1 did not receive the firstdata frame 806 of the DL OFDMA transmission 802 correctly and thereforedid not send a responsive acknowledgement frame, or because anacknowledgment frame transmitted in response to the first data frame 806by the first station STA1 was not correctly received by the AP, the APdoes not receive an acknowledgement frame for the first data frame 806.

As there is at least one response frame (first BA frame 826) received inthe predetermined time after the DL OFDMA transmission 802, the AP maycontinue another frame transmission procedure as a regular multipleframe transmission in an EDCA TXOP, without performing a backoffprocedure or a PIFS recovery. This is because other stations will notsense the medium being used by the AP as idle during the first ULtransmission 822.

The AP may include the frame that did not receive the response frame inthe other frame transmission procedure. In the example of FIG. 8, the APdoes not have any further buffered data. Accordingly, a following secondDL frame transmission 832 includes only a preamble 834 and theretransmitted first data frame 806′ being sent to the first stationSTA1.

The AP transmits the second DL frame transmission 832 after thepredetermined time T1 after receiving the first UL transmission 822.

The first station STA1 correctly receives the retransmitted first dataframe 806′ in the second DL frame transmission 832. In response, thefirst station STA1 performs a second UL transmission 842 thepredetermined time T1 after the end of the second DL frame transmission832. The second UL transmission 842 includes a preamble and a second BAframe 846.

The AP determines that the second DL frame transmission 832 wassuccessful when the AP receives the second BA frame 846 from the firststation STA1.

The predetermined time T1 can be a SIFS in some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process 900 for handling, by an AP, a transmissionfailure of a DL MU PPDU in an EDCA TXOP, according to an embodiment. Inan embodiment, the DL MU PPDU is a DL MU OFDMA PPDU.

At S902, the process 900 transmits one or more MPDUs (A-MPDUs or HEsingle MPDUs) as part of a DL MU PPDU that is addressed to one or morerecipient stations. The one or more MPDUs require one or more immediateresponse frames, such as acknowledgement frames, from the one or morerecipient stations.

At S904, the process 900 waits for a timeout interval of a predeterminedduration starting at a PHY-TXEND.confirm primitive. In an embodiment,the predetermined duration is equal to a SIFS plus a slot time plus aPHY receive start delay (that is,aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aPHY-RX-STARTDelay).

At S906, the process 900 determines whether a PHY-RXSTART.indicationprimitive has occurred during the timeout interval. When thePHY-RXSTART.indication primitive did not occur during the timeoutinterval, the process 900 determines that the transmission of the DL MUPPDU has failed and proceeds to S916. Otherwise, at S906 the process 900proceeds to S908.

At S908, the process 900 waits for a PHY-RXEND.indication primitivecorresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive.

At S910, the process 900 determines whether any frame other than a validresponse frame sent by any of the recipients of the DL MU PPDU or anytransmission that was not identified or decoded was received in aninterval corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives. When the process 900 determines that aframe other than a valid response frame was received, the process 900determines that the DL MU PPDU transmission has failed and proceeds toS916. Otherwise, at S910 the process 900 proceeds to S912.

At S912, the process 900 recognizes valid response frames received inthe interval corresponding to PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives and sent by the one or more recipientstations of the DL MU PPDU requiring one or more response frames.

At S914, the process 900 determines whether at least one valid responseframe sent by any of the recipients of the DL MU PPDU was received inthe interval corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives. When the process 900 determines thatthe at least one valid response frame was received, the process 900proceeds to S918. Otherwise, at S914 the process 900 determines that theDL MU PPDU transmission has failed and proceeds to S916.

At S916, in response to the transmission failure of the DL MU PPDUtransmission, the process 900 may perform a PIFS recovery or a backoffwithin a TXOP.

At S918, the process 900 respectively determines for each recipientstation requiring an individual immediate response frame whether atransmission failure of the DL OFDMA PPDU addressed to the recipientstation has occurred. The process 900 then ends.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process 1000 for handling, by an AP, atransmission failure of a DL MU PPDU included in a multiple frametransmission of an EDCA TXOP, according to another embodiment. The DL MUPPDU may be the initial frame of the TXOP. In an embodiment, the DL MUPPDU is a DL MU OFDMA PPDU.

At S1002, the process 1000 transmits one or more MPDUs (A-MPDUs or HEsingle MPDUs) as part of a DL MU PPDU that is addressed to one or morerecipient stations. The one or more MPDUs require one or more immediateresponse frames, such as acknowledgement frames, from the one or morerecipient stations.

At S1004, the process 1000 waits for a timeout interval of apredetermined duration starting at a PHY-TXEND.confirm primitivecorresponding to the DL MU PPDU. In an embodiment, the predeterminedduration is equal to a SIFS plus a slot time plus a PHY receive startdelay (that is, aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aPHY-RX-STARTDelay of an IEEE 802.11standard).

At S1006, the process 1000 determines whether a PHY-RXSTART.indicationprimitive has occurred during the timeout interval. When thePHY-RXSTART.indication primitive did not occur during the timeoutinterval, the process 1000 determines that the transmission of the DL MUPPDU has failed and proceeds to S1016. Otherwise, at S1006 the process1000 proceeds to S1008.

At S1008, the process 1000 waits for a PHY-RXEND.indication primitivecorresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive.

At S1010, the process 1000 determines whether any frame was received inan interval corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives other than a valid response frame sentby any of the recipients of the DL MU PPDU or any transmission wasreceived in the interval that was not identified or decoded. When theprocess 1000 determines that a frame other than the valid response frameor a transmission that was not identified or decoded was received, theprocess 1000 determines that the DL MU PPDU transmission has failed andproceeds to S1016. Otherwise, at S1010 the process 1000 proceeds toS1012.

At S1012, the process 1000 recognizes valid response frames, sent by theone or more recipient stations of the DL MU PPDU requiring one or moreresponse frames, and received in the interval corresponding to thePHY-RXSTART.indication and PHY-RXEND.indication primitives.

At S1014, the process 1000 determines whether at least one validresponse frame sent by any of the recipient of the DL MU PPDU wasreceived in the interval corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives. When the process 1000 determines thatthe at least one valid response frame was received, the process 1000proceeds to S1018. Otherwise, at S1014 the process 1000 determines thatthe DL MU PPDU transmission has failed and proceeds to S1016.

At S1016, in response to the transmission failure of the DL MU PPDU, theprocess 1000 may perform a PIFS recovery or a backoff within the TXOP.

At S1018, the process 1000 determines whether there was a failure of anyof the individual DL MPDU/A-MPDU transmissions of the DL MU PPDUtransmission, that is, whether not all of the expected response frameswere recognized as valid at S1010. When all of the expected responseframes for the DL MU PPDU were recognized as valid at S1010, the process1000 ends. Otherwise, at S1018 the process 1000 proceeds to S1020.

At S1020, after a valid response to the DL MU PPDU, when a duration of anext transmission plus the duration of any expected acknowledgment andapplicable IFS is less than the remaining TXNAV timer value, the process1000 proceeds to S1022. That is, when the process 1000 determines thatenough time remains in the TXOP to perform the next transmission andreceive the expected response to the next transmission, the process 100proceeds to S1022. Otherwise, at S1020 the process 1000 ends.

At S1022, the process 1000 waits a predetermined duration, such as aSIFS. The process 1000 then proceeds to S1024.

At S1024, the process 1000 may transmit, using a corresponding channelaccess function, the next transmission. The next transmission mayinclude retransmissions of one or more MPDUs transmitted in the DL MUPPDU for which respective valid response frames were not received.

In an embodiment, an AP sends frames to multiple stations simultaneouslyusing a DL MU transmission in a TXOP, and expects immediate responseframes from the receivers of the frames. The immediate response framesare expected to be transmitted in a UL MU manner. If there are at leastone of the response frames received in a predetermined time after the DLMU transmission, the AP can continue other frame transmission procedureas regular multiple frame transmission in an EDCA TXOP, and the AP caninclude any frames for which the corresponding expected response frameswere not received in the other frame transmission procedure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include methods for performingmultiple frame sequential transmission within a transmission opportunity(TXOP). More specifically, embodiments includes methods that enablemultiple UL MU transmissions within a TXOP even when one or transmissionerrors occur.

Throughout this document, multi-user (MU) transmission refers to casesthat multiple frames are transmitted to or from multiple stationssimultaneously using different resources, wherein examples of differentresources include different frequency resources in an OFDMA transmissionand different spatial streams in a MU-MIMO transmission. An MUtransmission can include any of a DL OFDMA transmission, a DL MU-MIMOtransmission, an UL OFDMA transmission, an UL MU-MIMO transmission, andthe like.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example operation 1100 in which a DL MUtransmission and a UL MU transmission are combined together in acascaded manner according to an embodiment The operation 1100 isperformed within an EDCA transmission opportunity (TXOP) by an AP andfirst, second, third, and fourth stations STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4. Atthe beginning of the operation 1100, the AP has first and second dataDATA1D and DATA2D to send to stations STA1 and STA2, respectively. Inaddition, the AP schedules uplink data frame transmission from stationsSTA1, STA3, and STA4.

Each of the frames illustrated in FIG. 11A may include preambles, such aVery High Throughput (VHT) preamble or a High Efficiency (HE) preamble,that are omitted in order to more clearly and concisely illustrate theoperation 1100.

The AP transmits a DL MU frame 1102 comprising first, second, and thirdframes F1, F2, and F3. In an embodiment, the frames F1, F2, and F3respectively correspond to three resource allocations of an OFDMAtransmission. In another embodiment, the frames F1, F2, and F3respectively correspond to three spatial streams of a MU-MIMOtransmission. In another embodiment, the frames F1, F2, and F3 may eachcorrespond to a resource allocation of an OFDMA transmission or to aspatial stream of a MU-MIMO transmission using an allocated resource ofthe OFDMA transmission.

The first frame F1 is targeted to the first station STA1 and comprisesfirst and second A-MPDU subframes 1104 and 1110. The first subframe 1104is a DL data frame including the first data DATA1D. The second subframe1110 is a unicast first trigger frame TR1 that solicits a UL frametransmission as an immediate response to the DL MU frame 1102.

The second frame F2 is targeted to the second station STA2 and comprisesfirst and second A-MPDU subframes 1106 and 1112. The first subframe 1106is a DL data frame including the second data DATA2D. The second subframe1112 is a unicast second trigger frame TR2 that solicits an UL frametransmission as an immediate response to the DL MU frame 1102.

The third frame F3 includes a broadcast third trigger frame 1108 (TR34)that targets the third station STA3 and the fourth station STA4, andsolicits UL data frame transmissions as immediate responses to the DL MUframe 1102.

The stations STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4 each successfully receive the DLMU frame 1102.

Because the DL MU frame 1102 includes the first, second, and thirdtrigger frames targeting the stations STA1, STA2, and STA3 and STA4,respectively, a first predetermined time T1 after receiving the DL MUframe 1102, the stations STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4 each send UL MUframes as an immediate response to the respective trigger frame includedin the DL MU transmission. In an embodiment, the UL frames respectivelycorrespond to resource allocations of an OFDMA transmission. In anotherembodiment, the UL frames respectively correspond to spatial streams ofa MU-MIMO transmission. In another embodiment, the UL frames may eachcorrespond to a resource allocation of an OFDMA transmission or to aspatial stream of a MU-MIMO transmission using an allocated resource ofthe OFDMA transmission.

The first station STA1 transmits a UL A-MPDU 1114 in response to thefirst trigger frame 1110 that comprises i) an acknowledgement frame 1116(BA1) in response to DL data frame 1104, and ii) a first UL data frame1118. The first UL data frame 1118 includes first UL data DATA1U.

The second station STA2 transmits an acknowledgement frame 1120 (BA2) inresponse to DL data frame 1106. However, because the second station STA2does not have any data queued for transmission, the second station STA2does not send an UL data frame in response to the second trigger frame1112.

The third station STA3 transmits a second UL data frame 1122 in responseto the third trigger frame 1108. The UL data frame 1122 includes secondUL data DATA3U.

The fourth station STA4 transmits a third UL data frame 1124 in responseto the third trigger frame 1108. The UL data frame 1124 includes thirdUL data DATA4U.

A second predetermined time T2 after receiving the UL MU frames 1114,1120, 1122, and 1124 sent from the stations STA1, STA2, and STA3 andSTA4, respectively, the AP transmits acknowledgement frame 1126 (BA134)to the first, third, and fourth stations STA1, STA3, and STA4. Theacknowledgement frame 1126 is a response to the first, second, and thirdUL data frames 1118, 1122, and 1124.

The cascaded DL/UL MU transmission operation 1100 of FIG. 11A worksproperly if performed according to an IEEE Std 802.11n or IEEE Std802.11ac protocol when no transmission errors occur. However, theoperation 1100 performed according to an IEEE Std 802.11n or IEEE Std802.11ac protocol does not work as intended when a transmission erroroccurs.

FIG. 11B illustrates a cascaded DL/UL MU transmission operation 1100′performed within an EDCA transmission opportunity TXOP. The operation1100′ differs from the operation 1100 of FIG. 11A in that a transmissionerror occurs during the operation 1100′.

At the beginning of the operation 1100′, the AP has first and seconddata DATA1D and DATA2D to send to stations STA1 and STA2, respectively.In addition, the AP schedules uplink data frame transmission fromstations STA1, STA3, and STA4.

Each of the frames illustrated in FIG. 11B may include preambles, such aVery High Throughput (VHT) preamble or a High Efficiency (HE) preamble,that are omitted in order to more clearly and concisely illustrate theoperation 1100′.

The AP transmits a DL MU frame 1102 comprising first, second, and thirdframes F1, F2, and F3. In an embodiment, the three frames respectivelycorrespond to three resource allocations of an OFDMA transmission. Inanother embodiment, the three frames respectively correspond to threespatial streams of a MU-MIMO transmission.

The first frame F1 is targeted to the first station STA1 and comprisesfirst and second A-MPDU subframes 1104 and 1110. The first subframe 1104is a DL data frame including the first data DATA1D. The second subframe1110 is a unicast first trigger frame TR1 that solicits a UL frametransmission as an immediate response to the DL MU frame 1102.

The second frame F2 is targeted to the second station STA2 and comprisesthird and fourth A-MPDU subframes 1106 and 1112. The third subframe 1106is a DL data frame including the second data DATA2D. The fourth subframe1112 is a unicast second trigger frame TR2 that solicits an UL frametransmission as an immediate response to the DL MU frame 1102.

The third frame F3 includes a broadcast third trigger frame 1108 (TR34)that targets the stations STA3 and STA4, and solicits UL data frametransmissions as immediate responses to the DL MU frame 1102.

The first station STA1 successfully receives the DL MU frame 1102.Because of a transmission error (such as interference in the wirelessmedium), the second, third, and fourth stations STA2, STA3, and STA4,each do not successfully receives the DL MU frame 1102.

Because the DL MU frame 1102 includes the first trigger frame 1110targeting the first station STA1, a first predetermined time T1 afterreceiving the DL MU frame 1102, the STA1 transmits an UL A-MPDU 1114 inresponse to the first trigger frame 1110 that comprises i) anacknowledgement frame 1116 (BA1) in response to DL data frame 1104, andii) an UL data frame 1118. The UL data frame 1118 includes UL dataDATA1U.

The second, third, and fourth stations STA2, STA3, and STA4 do not sendany frames in response to the DL MU frame 1102.

The AP successfully receives the UL A-MPDU 1114 from the STA1. Based onthe IEEE 802.11n or 802.11ac protocol, the AP may need to reactdifferently for different responses and lack of responses from differentstations.

For the UL data frame 1118 transmitted by the STA1 and successfullyreceived by the AP, the AP may transmit an acknowledgement frame 1130(BA1U) in a second predetermined time T2 after receiving the UL dataframe 1118.

For all other scheduled frame transmission to and from stations STA2,STA3, and STA4, which the AP does not receive correctly or did notreceive an acknowledgment for, the AP may initiate a retransmissionprocess. In a retransmission process according to the IEEE Std 802.11nor 802.11ac, the AP checks the wireless medium for a predetermined timeT3 (for example, a PIFS) and retransmits the frames if a channel of thewireless medium stays idle for the predetermined time T3.

That is, in response to the transmission error, the AP may transmit a DLMU frame 1132 including i) a retransmitted DL data subframe 1136including the second data DATA2D that was unsuccessfully transmitted inthe third subframe 1106 of the DL MU frame 1102, ii) a retransmittedsubframe 1138 including the unicast second trigger frame TR2 that wasunsuccessfully transmitted in the fourth subframe 1112 of the DL MUframe 1102, and iii) a retransmitted frame 1134 including the broadcastthird trigger frame TR34 that was unsuccessfully transmitted in thethird frame 1108 of the DL MU frame 1102.

As shown in FIG. 11B, because of the differences in the actions the APtakes in response to the different results from the different stations,the AP cannot respond properly under the IEEE Std 802.11n or 802.11acprotocols.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include error handling processesthat overcome the issues illustrated in FIG. 11B. In an embodiment, whenan AP includes, in a DL MU transmission, one or more trigger frames thattogether target a more than one station, the frame exchanges by all thetrigger frames are considered to be successful if the AP correctlyreceives an MPDU from at least one station indicated by any of thetrigger frames.

FIG. 12 illustrates a cascaded DL/UL MU transmission operation 1200according to an embodiment. The operation 1200 is performed within anEDCA transmission opportunity TXOP. The operation 1200 differs from theoperation 1100′ of FIG. 11B in that an error handling process of anembodiment is used instead of an error handling process of the IEEE802.11n or 802.11ac standards.

At the beginning of the operation 1200, the AP has first and second dataDATA1D and DATA2D to send to first and second stations STA1 and STA2,respectively. In addition, the AP schedules uplink data frametransmission from first, third, and fourth stations STA1, STA3, andSTA4.

Each of the frames illustrated in FIG. 12 may include preambles, such asa Very High Throughput (VHT) preamble or a High Efficiency (HE)preamble, that are omitted in order to more clearly and conciselyillustrate the operation 1200.

The AP transmits a first DL MU frame 1202 comprising first, second, andthird frames F1, F2, and F3. In an embodiment, the three framesrespectively correspond to three resource allocations of an OFDMAtransmission. In another embodiment, the three frames respectivelycorrespond to three spatial streams of a MIMO transmission. In anotherembodiment, the frames F1, F2, and F3 may each correspond to a resourceallocation of an OFDMA transmission or to a spatial stream of a MU-MIMOtransmission using an allocated resource of the OFDMA transmission.

The first frame F1 is targeted to the first station STA1 and comprisesfirst and second A-MPDU subframes 1204 and 1210. The first subframe 1204is a DL data frame including the first data DATA1D. The second subframe1210 is a unicast first trigger frame TR1 that solicits a UL frametransmission as an immediate response to the first DL MU frame 1202.

The second frame F2 is targeted to the second station STA2 and comprisesthird and fourth A-MPDU subframes 1206 and 1212. The third subframe 1206is a DL data frame including the second data DATA2D. The fourth subframe1212 is a unicast second trigger frame TR2 that solicits an UL frametransmission as an immediate response to the first DL MU frame 1202.

The third frame F3 includes a broadcast third trigger frame 1208 (TR34)that targets the third and fourth stations STA3 and the STA4, andsolicits UL data frame transmissions as immediate responses to the firstDL MU frame 1202.

The first station STA1 successfully receives the first DL MU frame 1202.Because of a transmission error (such as interference in the wirelessmedium), the second, third, and fourth stations STA2, STA3, and STA4each do not successfully receives the first DL MU frame 1202.

Because the first DL MU frame 1202 includes the first trigger frame TR1targeting the first station STA1, a first predetermined time T1 afterreceiving the DL MU frame 1202, the first station STA1 transmits an ULA-MPDU 1214 in response to the first trigger frame 1210 that comprisesi) a first acknowledgement frame 1216 (BA1) in response to DL data frame1204, and ii) a first UL data frame 1218. The first UL data frame 1218includes first UL data DATA1U.

The second, third, and fourth stations STA2, STA3, and STA4 do not sendany frames in response to the DL MU frame 1202.

The AP successfully receives the UL A-MPDU 1214 from the first stationSTA1.

Because the AP transmitted one or more trigger frames (trigger framesTR1, TR2, and TR34) that together targeted more than one station, andthe AP received a valid MPDU (here, the UL A-MPDU 1214) correctly fromat least one station (here, the first station STA1) indicated by any ofthe trigger frames (TR1), the frame exchanges by all the trigger framesare considered to be successful, and as a result the AP can continue totransmit its next frames in a second predetermined time T2 withoutchecking whether the wireless medium is idle.

However, even though the frame exchanges by all the trigger frames areconsidered to be successful, because the AP has not received anacknowledgment of the third A-MPDU subframe 1206 including the second DLdata DATA2D in response to TR2 and has not received proper responseframes to TR34, the AP schedules retransmission of the unsuccessfullytransmitted frames together with an acknowledgement frame BA1Uresponsive to the first UL data frame 1218.

That is, the AP transmits a second DL MU frame 1222 comprising fourth,fifth, and sixth frames F4, F5, and F6 without first checking whetherthe wireless medium is idle. In an embodiment, the frames F4, F5, and F6respectively correspond to three resource allocations of an OFDMAtransmission. In another embodiment, the frames F4, F5, and F6respectively correspond to three spatial streams of a MIMO transmission.In another embodiment, the frames F4, F5, and F6 may each correspond toa resource allocation of an OFDMA transmission or to a spatial stream ofa MU-MIMO transmission using an allocated resource of the OFDMAtransmission.

The fourth frame F4 is targeted to the second station STA2 and comprisesfifth and sixth A-MPDU subframes 1224 and 1230. The fifth subframe 1224is a DL data frame including a retransmission of the second data DATA2D.The sixth subframe 1212 is a unicast second trigger frame TR2 thatsolicits an UL frame transmission as an immediate response to the secondDL MU frame 1222.

The fifth frame F5 includes the broadcast third trigger frame 1226(TR34) that targets the third station STA3 and the fourth station STA4,and solicits UL data frame transmissions as immediate responses to thefirst DL MU frame 1222.

The sixth frame F6 includes a second acknowledgement frame 1228 (BA1U)sent to the first station STA1 in response to the first UL data frame1218.

A first predetermined time T1 after receiving the second DL MU frame1222, as the second, third, and fourth stations STA2, STA3, and STA4 allreceived a trigger frame that solicits an UL frame transmission, thesecond, third, and fourth stations STA2, STA3, and STA4 will send ULframes as an immediate response to the respective trigger frames, asdetailed below.

The second station STA2 transmits a third acknowledgement frame 1234(BA2) in response to DL data frame 1224. However, because the secondstation STA2 does not have any data queued for transmission, the secondstation STA2 does not send an UL data frame in response to the triggerframe 1230.

The third station STA3 transmits a second UL data frame 1236 in responseto the third trigger frame TR34 in frame 1226. The second UL data frame1236 includes second UL data DATA3U.

The fourth station STA4 transmits a third UL data frame 1238 in responseto the third trigger frame TR34 in frame 1226. The third UL data frame1238 includes third UL data DATA4U.

A second predetermined time T2 after receiving the UL MU frames 1234,1236, and 1238 sent from the second, third, and fourth stations STA2,STA3, and STA4 respectively, the AP transmits acknowledgement frame 1240(BA34) to the third and fourth stations STA3 and STA4. Theacknowledgement frame 1240 is a response to the second and third UL dataframes 1236 and 1238. In an embodiment, both the first predeterminedtime T1 and the second predetermined time T2 are a SIFS.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process 1300 for handling, by an AP, atransmission failure of a DL PPDU in an EDCA TXOP, according to anembodiment. The DL PPDU includes one or more trigger frames that i) whentaken together are directed to a plurality of scheduled stations, andii) each require one or more immediate response frames from one or moreof the scheduled stations. The DL PPDU may be a DL MU PPDU. In anembodiment, the DL PPDU includes a plurality of trigger frames.

At S1302, the process 1300 transmits the trigger frames as part of a DLPPDU that is addressed to the scheduled stations. The trigger frames inthe DL PPDU require, as an immediate response, the transmission of an ULMU PPDU by each of the scheduled stations.

At S1304, the process 1300 waits for a timeout interval of apredetermined duration starting at a PHY-TXEND.confirm primitive. In anembodiment, the predetermined duration is equal to a SIFS plus a slottime plus a PHY receive start delay (that is,aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aPHY-RX-STARTDelay).

At S1306, the process 1300 determines whether a PHY-RXSTART.indicationprimitive has occurred during the timeout interval. When thePHY-RXSTART.indication primitive did not occur during the timeoutinterval, the process 1300 determines that the transmission of the oneor more trigger frames has failed and proceeds to S1316. Otherwise, atS1306 the process 1300 proceeds to S1308.

At S1308, the process 1300 waits for a PHY-RXEND.indication primitivecorresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive.

At S1310, the process 1300 determines whether any frame was received ina received UL MU PPDU corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives other than a valid response frame sentby the scheduled stations of the trigger frames or whether atransmission that was not identified or decoded was received in aninterval corresponding to the PHY-RXEND.indication primitive andPHY-RXSTART.indication primitive. When the process 1300 determines thata frame other than the valid response frame from the scheduled stationsor a transmission that was not identified or decoded was received, theprocess 1300 determines that the trigger frame transmission has failedand proceeds to S1316. Otherwise, at S1310 the process 1300 proceeds toS1312.

At S1312, the process 1300 recognizes valid response frames, sent by thescheduled stations respectively corresponding to the trigger frames, inthe received UL MU PPDU corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives. The recognitions of the transmissionfailures of the trigger frames respectively sent to one or morerecipient stations are individually determined for each recipientstation.

At S1314, the process 1300 determines whether at least one validresponse frame, sent by a scheduled station corresponding to one of thetrigger frames, was received in the interval corresponding to thePHY-RXSTART.indication and PHY-RXEND.indication primitives. When theprocess 1300 determines that the at least one valid response frame wasreceived, the process 1300 proceeds to S1318. Otherwise, at S1314 theprocess 1300 determines that the trigger frame transmission has failedand proceeds to S1316.

At S1316, in response to the transmission failure of the trigger frames,the process 1300 may perform a PIFS recovery or perform a backoff withina TXOP.

At S1318, the process 1300 respectively determines for each recipientstation requiring an individual immediate response frame whether atransmission failures of the trigger frame addressed to the recipientstation has occurred.

FIG. 14 illustrates a process 1400 for handling, by an AP, atransmission failure of a DL MU PPDU in an EDCA TXOP, according toanother embodiment. The DL PPDU includes one or more trigger frames thati) when taken together are directed to a plurality of scheduledstations, and ii) each require one or more immediate response framesfrom one or more of the scheduled stations. In an embodiment, the DLPPDU includes a plurality of trigger frames. In an embodiment, the DL MUPPDU is an initial frame of the TXOP.

At S1402, the process 1400 transmits the one or more trigger frames aspart of a DL MU PPDU that is addressed to the scheduled stations. Thetrigger frames in the DL PPDU require, as an immediate response, thetransmission of an UL MU PPDU as an immediate response by each of thescheduled stations.

At S1404, the process 1340 waits for a timeout interval of apredetermined duration starting at a PHY-TXEND.confirm primitive. In anembodiment, the predetermined duration is equal to a SIFS plus a slottime plus a PHY receive start delay (that is,aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aPHY-RX-STARTDelay).

At S1406, the process 1400 determines whether a PHY-RXSTART.indicationprimitive has occurred during the timeout interval. When thePHY-RXSTART.indication primitive did not occur during the timeoutinterval, the process 1400 determines that the transmission of thetrigger frames has failed and proceeds to S1416. Otherwise, at S1406 theprocess 1400 proceeds to S1408.

At S1408, the process 1400 waits for a PHY-RXEND.indication primitivecorresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive.

At S1410, the process 1400 determines whether any frame was received ina received UL MU PPDU corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication andPHY-RXEND.indication primitives other than a valid response frame sentby the one or more scheduled stations of the trigger frames, or whethera transmission that was not identified or decoded was received in theinterval corresponding to the PHY-RXEND.indication primitive andPHY-RXSTART.indication primitive. When the process 1400 determines thata frame other than the valid response frame from one of the scheduledstations or a transmission that was not identified or decoded wasreceived, the process 1400 determines that the trigger framestransmission has failed and proceeds to S1416. Otherwise, at S1410 theprocess 1400 proceeds to S1418.

At S1412, the process 1400 recognizes valid response frames, sent by theone or more scheduled stations respectively corresponding to the triggerframes, in the received UL MU PPDU corresponding to thePHY-RXSTART.indication and PHY-RXEND.indication primitives.

At S1414, the process 1400 determines whether at least one validresponse frame, sent by a scheduled station corresponding to one of thetrigger frames, was received in the interval corresponding to thePHY-RXSTART.indication and PHY-RXEND.indication primitives. When theprocess 1400 determines that the at least one valid response frame wasreceived, the process 1400 proceeds to S1418. Otherwise, at S1414 theprocess 1400 determines that the trigger frame transmission has failedand proceeds to S1416.

At S1416, in response to the transmission failure of the trigger frames,the process 1400 may perform a PIFS recovery or perform a backoff withina TXOP.

At S1418, the process 1400 determines whether there was a failure of thetransmission of any of the trigger frames, that is, whether not all ofthe expected response frames respectively corresponding to triggerframes where recognized as valid at S1410. When all of the expectedresponse frames for the DL MU PPDU were recognized as valid at S1410,the process 1400 ends. Otherwise, at S1418 the process 1400 proceeds toS1420.

At S1420, after a valid response to the DL MU PPDU, when a duration of anext transmission plus the duration of any expected acknowledgment andapplicable IFS is less than the remaining TXNAV timer value, the process1400 proceeds to S1422. Otherwise, at S1420 the process 1400 ends.

At S1422, the process 1400 waits a predetermined duration, such as aSIFS. The process 1400 then proceeds to S1424.

At S1424, the process 1400 may transmit, using a corresponding channelaccess function, the next transmission. The next transmission mayinclude retransmissions of one or more trigger frames transmitted in theDL MU PPDU for which respective valid response frames were not received.

In an embodiment of the invention, a process of transmitting frames froma station is disclosed, wherein the process includes transmitting DLframes in MU transmission manner. The DL frames include a first DL frameand a second DL frame. The first DL frame solicits a first UL responseframe from a first station as an immediate response. The second DL framesolicits a second UL response frame from a second station as animmediate response.

The process receives the first UL response frame without receiving thesecond UL response frame in a first predetermined time aftertransmitting the DL frames.

The process transmits a third DL frame in a second predetermined timeafter receiving the first response frame without checking the wirelessmedium status. The third DL frame solicits the second response framefrom the second station.

The first predetermined time may be a SIFS. The second predeterminedtime may be the SIFS.

The first frame and the second frame may be UL trigger frames, that is,trigger frames that solicit respective immediate UL responses.

Embodiments enable an AP to utilize a wireless medium more efficientlyeven when not all response for multiple trigger frames are receivedcorrectly. Embodiments may operate to reduce the chance of a backoff orPIFS recovery process being performed, which can increase overall systemthroughput.

Embodiments include a process used by an AP to perform a triggered ULtransmission in which an AP transmits one or more trigger frames in a DLMU transmission. The AP allocates resources to an UL transmission thatis to be sent as an immediate response to a DL PPDU of the DL MUtransmission. The process shall not allocate a resource to the ULtransmission in any 20 MHz channel that is not occupied by the DL PPDU,that is, all resources allocated to the UL transmission are in 20 MHzchannels that were occupied in the DL PPDU. Furthermore, in someembodiments, each 20 MHz channel occupied by the DL PPDU, there is atleast one resource allocated to the UL transmission.

Embodiments enable flexible resource assignment for a UL MUtransmission. More specifically, some embodiments enable allocatingresources for the UL MU transmission that are solicited by a pluralnumber of simultaneous trigger frames that precedes the UL MUtransmission.

FIG. 15 illustrates an operation 1500 of an UL MU transmission. In FIG.15, as well as in FIGS. 16-22, a vertical axis (f) indicates frequencyand a horizontal axis (t) indicates time.

FIG. 15 and FIGS. 16-22 illustrate UL transmissions and DLtransmissions, such as DL transmission 1502 and a UL MU transmission1510 of FIG. 15. The figures illustrate payload portions included in therespective transmissions. Each of the transmissions also includes apreamble portion, not shown in the figure, which may occupy the entiretyof any 20 MHz channel used, in whole or in part, by the payload of thetransmission. In the description below, unless otherwise indicated, abandwidth used by a transmission refers to a bandwidth used by a payloadportion of the transmission, which bandwidth may be the same as or asubset of a bandwidth used by a preamble of the transmission.

An AP schedules UL MU transmissions from a first station STA1 and asecond station STA2 simultaneously. For this purpose, the AP first sendsthe DL transmission 1502 including a trigger frame 1504 (TRIG) thatsolicits the UL MU transmission using a 40 MHz channel bandwidth, the 40MHz channel bandwidth including upper and lower 20 MHz channels. Thetrigger frame 1504 may include resource allocation information for theUL MU transmission. In FIG. 15, the trigger frame 1504 indicates thatthe response of the first station STA1 will occupy the an upper 20 MHzchannel resource of a UL MU transmission 1510 and the response of thesecond station STA2 will occupy a lower 20 MHz channel resource of theUL MU transmission 1510. In an embodiment, the DL transmission 1502 is aDL MU transmission 1502.

A first predetermined time T1 after receiving the trigger frame 1504,the first station STA1 and second station STA2 respectively transmitfirst UL MU frame 1512 (DATA1) and second UL MU frame 1514 (DATA2) asimmediate responses to the trigger frame 1504. The first UL MU frame1512 and the second UL MU frame 1514 are components of the UL MUtransmission 1510. The first station STA1 and the second station STA2transmit using the respective designated resources, that is, the firststation STA1 transmits using the upper 20 MHz bandwidth, and the secondstation STA2 transmits using the lower 20 MHz bandwidth.

A second predetermined time T2 after receiving the UL MU frames 1512 and1514, the AP sends back an acknowledgement frame 1520 (BA) to the firststation STA1 and the second station STA2.

In a UL MU transmission mechanism according to one embodiment, an APshall not allocate an UL subchannel in any 20 MHz channel that is notoccupied by the trigger frame, and in each 20 MHz channel occupied bythe trigger frame, there is at least one allocated subchannel for ULtransmission. Therefore, in the previous example, the AP cannot allocateresource that is outside of the upper and lower 20 MHz bandwidth becausethe trigger frame occupies the upper and lower 20 MHz channel.

The above mentioned restriction on the transmission bandwidth of the ULMU frame is reasonable because the transmission bandwidth of a responseframe needs to be the same or smaller than the transmission bandwidth ofa corresponding soliciting frame. However, the above mentionedrestriction may not work as intended when a plural number of triggerframes are transmitted simultaneously, or when a trigger frame directedto a plurality of stations and a non-trigger DL frame are transmittedsimultaneously (e.g., in the same DL PPDU).

FIG. 16 illustrates issues that may arise under the above mentionedrules. In FIG. 16, an AP transmits a first DL A-MPDU 1604 including afirst data frame DLDATA1 for a first station STA1 and a second DL A-MPDU1608 including a second DL data frame DLDATA2 to the second stationSTA2. The DL A-MPDUs 1604 and 1608 are transmitted simultaneously aspart of a DL MU transmission 1602. The AP schedules an upper 20 MHzbandwidth for the transmission of the first DL A-MPDU 1604 to the firststation STA1, and schedules a lower 10 MHz bandwidth for thetransmission of the second DL A-MPDU 1608 to the second station STA2.

The AP also includes a first unicast trigger frame TR1 that solicits anUL MU transmission in the first DL A-MPDU 1604 sent to the first stationSTA1, and includes a second unicast trigger frame TR2 that solicits anUL MU transmission in the second DL A-MPDU 1608 sent to the secondstation STA2.

The first station STA1 will transmit a first acknowledgement frame BA1to the received first DL data frame DL DATA1. The second station STA2will transmit a second acknowledgement frame BA2 to the received secondDL data frame DL DATA2. For this purpose, the AP schedules a 5 MHzportion 1612 in the upper 20 MHz bandwidth of an UL MU transmission 1610for a UL transmission by the first station STA1 and schedules the entirelower 20 MHz bandwidth 1618 of the UL MU transmission 1610 for a ULtransmission by the second station STA2. The respective resourceassignment for the UL transmissions of the first station STA1 and secondstation STA2 satisfies the above mentioned rules because the resourcefor the first acknowledgement frame BA1 is occupied by the first unicasttrigger frame TR1, and the resources for the second acknowledgementframe BA2 and a UL data frame ULDATA2 are occupied for 20 MHz that isoccupied by the second unicast trigger frame TR2.

In response to receiving the UL data frame ULDATA2 included in the UL MUtransmission 1610, the AP transmits a third acknowledgment frame 1620(BA3).

However, when the AP intends to assign first and second unused resources1614 and 1616 (UR_A and UR_B) of the UL MU transmission 1610 to otherstations, such as a third station STA3 and a fourth station STA4, bysending a broadcast trigger frame TR34 in a third DL A-MPDU 1606included in the DL MU transmission 1602, this allocation cannot meet therequirements of the above mentioned rule because resources for the firstand second unused resources 1614 and 1616 are not using 20 MHz channelthat the broadcast trigger frame TR34 occupies. Therefore, wirelesschannel may not be fully utilized if the above mentioned rules areapplied when there are a plurality of trigger frames in the DL MUtransmission 1602.

To overcome the issues mentioned above, embodiments of the presentdisclosure include processes for controlling transmission bandwidth foran UL MU transmission. The UL MU transmission may be an UL MU PPDU.

In embodiments, when an AP transmits one or more trigger frames in a DLMU transmission, the AP shall not allocate a UL subchannel in any 20 MHzchannel that is not occupied by a preceding or soliciting DL PPDU. Thepreceding DL PPDU may be an immediately preceding DL PPDU. The precedingDL PPDU may be the DL MU transmission. Furthermore, in each 20 MHzchannel occupied by the preceding or soliciting DL PPDU, there is atleast one allocated subchannel for a UL transmission.

In embodiments, the UL MU transmission includes all UL MPDUs/A-MPDUsthat are scheduled together, and a DL MU PPDU includes all DLMPDUs/A-MPDUs that are scheduled together.

In an embodiment, an AP may allocate an UL subchannel in any 20 MHzchannel that is not occupied by the trigger frame as long as the totaltransmission bandwidth of the UL MU PPDU is equal to or smaller thanthat of the DL PPDU that solicits the UL MU PPDU.

In another embodiment, the AP is allowed to not allocate an ULsubchannel corresponding to any subchannel in any 20 MHz channeloccupied by a trigger frame, as long as at least one subchannel isallocated in each 20 MHz channel within the transmission bandwidth ofthe UL MU PPDU.

FIG. 17 illustrates a bandwidth allocation according to an embodiment.Similarly to in FIG. 16, an AP transmits a first DL A-MPDU 1704including a first data frame DLDATA1 to a first station STA1 andtransmits a second DL A-MPDU 1708 including a second DL data frameDLDATA2 to a second station STA2. The DL A-MPDUs 1704 and 1708 aretransmitted simultaneously as part of a DL MU transmission 1702.

The AP schedules an upper 20 MHz bandwidth for the transmission of thefirst DL A-MPDU 1704 to the first station STA1, and schedules a lower 10MHz bandwidth of a lower 20 MHz bandwidth for the transmission of thesecond DL A-MPDU 1708 to the second station STA2.

The AP includes a first unicast trigger frame TR1 that solicits an UL MUtransmission in the first DL A-MPDU 1704 sent to the first station STA1,and includes a second unicast trigger frame TR2 that solicits an UL MUtransmission in the second DL A-MPDU 1708 sent to the second stationSTA2.

The AP also transmits, simultaneously as part of the DL MU transmission1702, a third DL MPDU 1706 including a broadcast trigger frame TR34 thatsolicits an UL MU transmission from a third station STA3 and a fourthstation STA4. The AP schedules an upper 10 MHz bandwidth of the lower 20MHz bandwidth for the transmission of the third DL MPDU 1706.

As used herein, trigger information may be represented/included in a MACheader of an MPDU of a DL MU transmission or in a payload of the MPDU.For example, in an embodiment, the DL MU transmission 1702 may solicitone or more of the UL MU transmissions from the stations STA1, STA2,STA3, and STA4 using trigger information included in a MAC header of anMPDU of the DL MU transmission 1702. In an embodiment, the DL MUtransmission 1702 may solicit one or more of the UL MU transmissionsfrom the stations STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4 using a trigger framerepresented in an MPDU of the DL MU transmission 1702.

The AP schedules the solicited UL transmission so that the allocatedresources for the UL transmission of stations STA1, STA3, and STA4 arewithin an upper 20 MHz bandwidth of an UL MU transmission 1710, and theallocated resources for the UL transmission of the second station STA2are within a lower 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission 1710.

Scheduling information for the UL MU transmission 1710 is delivered bythe three trigger frames in the DL MU transmission 1702. The firststation STA1 receives all or part of the scheduling information in theunicast trigger frame TR1. The second station STA2 receives all or partof the scheduling information in the unicast trigger frame TR2. Thethird station STA3 and the fourth station STA4 receive all or part ofthe scheduling information in broadcast trigger frame TR34.

The AP may allocate an upper 5 MHz bandwidth 1712 of an upper 10 MHz ofan upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission 1710 to the ULresponse BA1 from the first station STA1 corresponding to the unicasttrigger frame TR1, and may allocate a lower 20 MHz bandwidth 1718 of theUL MU transmission 1710 to the UL response BA2+ULDATA4 from the secondstation STA2 corresponding to the unicast trigger frame TR2.

In an embodiment, because the total transmission bandwidth of the UL MUtransmission 1710 is the same with that of the DL MU transmission 1702,the allocated bandwidth in the UL MU transmission 1710 of ULtransmissions for third station STA3 and fourth station STA4 can beoutside of an occupied bandwidth of the broadcast trigger frame TR34.Moreover, no allocation of a subchannel for a UL response correspondingto the broadcast trigger frame TR34 is allowed in the 20 MHz channel inwhich the broadcast trigger frame TR34 was transmitted because theallocated resources for the UL transmission of the second station STA2include the entire lower 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission1710. As a result, the resources allocated to the UL responsescorresponding to the broadcast trigger frame TR34 are allocated in theupper 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission 1710.

Specifically, in the embodiment, the AP may allocate a lower 5 MHzbandwidth 1714 of an upper 10 MHz of an upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the ULMU transmission 1710 to the UL response ULDATA3 from the third stationSTA3 corresponding to the broadcast trigger frame TR34, and may allocatea lower 10 MHz bandwidth 1716 of the upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MUtransmission 1710 to the UL response ULDATA4 from the fourth stationSTA4 corresponding to the broadcast trigger frame TR34. Thisdemonstrates the additional flexibility of resource assignment andimproved overall wireless medium efficiency of the embodiment.

In response to receiving the UL data frames ULDATA2, ULDATA3, andULDATA4 included in the UL MU transmission 1710, the AP transmits athird acknowledgment frame 1720 (BA3).

FIG. 18 illustrates another example of bandwidth allocation according toan embodiment. In FIG. 18, an AP transmits, simultaneously as part of aDL MU transmission 1802, i) a first DL A-MPDU 1804 including a DL dataframe DLDATA1 and a unicast trigger Frame TR1 to a first station STA1and ii) a second DL MPDU 1806 including a broadcast trigger frame TR23to second and third stations STA2 and STA3.

A scheduled UL frame BA1 for the first station STA1 in an UL MUtransmission 1810 is allocated resources within a same 20 MHz bandwidthas that of the soliciting trigger frame TR1 sent to the first stationSTA1. Specifically, the scheduled UL frame BA1 is allocated an upper 10MHz bandwidth 1812 of the same upper 20 MHz bandwidth occupied by thesoliciting trigger frame TR1.

However, the scheduled UL frames responsive to the broadcast triggerframe TR23 (first UL data frame ULDATA2 from the second station STA2 andsecond UL data frame ULDATA3 from the third station STA3) are togetherallocated resources from a bandwidth larger than that of the solicitingtrigger frame TR23. Furthermore, while the second UL data frame ULDATA3occupies the same lower 20 MHz bandwidth 1816 that corresponds to thelower 20 MHz bandwidth occupied by the soliciting trigger frame TR23,the first UL data frame ULDATA2 occupies bandwidth outside of 20 MHzchannel that was occupied by the trigger frame TR23. Specifically, thefirst UL data frame ULDATA2 occupies a lower 10 MHz bandwidth 1814 ofthe upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission 1810.

FIG. 19 illustrates another example of bandwidth allocation according toan embodiment. In FIG. 19, an AP transmits DL data frames DLDATA1,DLDATA2, and DLDATA3, respectively, to stations STA1, STA2, and STA3simultaneously in a DL MU transmission 1902. The AP also schedulesrespective UL MU transmissions from the second station STA2 and thethird station STA3, and this information is indicated to the second andthird stations STA2 and STA3 by sending unicast trigger frames TR2 andTR3, respectively, to the second and third stations STA2 and STA3.

The first DL data frame DLDATA1 is transmitted using an upper 20 MHzbandwidth 1904 of the DL MU transmission 1902. The second DL data frameDLDATA2 and the first trigger frame TR2 are transmitted using an upper10 MHz bandwidth 1906 of a lower 20 MHz bandwidth of the DL MUtransmission 1902. The third DL data frame DLDATA3 and the secondtrigger frame TR3 are transmitted using a lower 10 MHz bandwidth 1908 ofthe lower 20 MHz bandwidth of the DL MU transmission 1902.

The scheduled resource for second station STA2's UL transmissionoccupies bandwidth outside of 20 MHz channel that is occupied by any ofthe trigger frames TR2 and TR3 but is still within the transmissionbandwidth of preceding DL MU transmission 1902.

Specifically, an upper 5 MHz bandwidth 1912 of an upper 20 MHz bandwidthof an UL MU transmission 1910 is allocated to an UL response BA1 of thefirst station STA1, which is transmitted in response to triggerinformation included in the first DL data frame DLDATA1. A lower 15 MHzbandwidth 1914 of the upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission1910 is allocated to an UL response BA2+ULDATA2 of the second stationSTA2, and a lower 20 MHz bandwidth 1916 of the UL MU transmission 1910is allocated to an UL response BA3+ULDATA3 of the third station STA3.

FIG. 20 illustrates another example of bandwidth allocation according toan embodiment. In FIG. 20, an AP transmits DL data frame DLDATA1 to afirst station STA1 in a DL MU transmission 2002. The AP also schedulesrespective UL MU transmissions from the second station STA2 and thethird station STA3, and this information is indicated to the secondstation STA2 and the third station STA3 by sending a broadcast triggerframe TR23 to the second station STA2 and the third station STA3.

The first DL data frame DLDATA1 is transmitted using an upper 20 MHzbandwidth 2004 of the DL MU transmission 2002. The broadcast triggerframe TR23 is transmitted using a lower 20 MHz bandwidth 2006 of the DLMU transmission 2002.

The scheduled resource for the second station STA2's UL transmissionoccupies bandwidth outside of 20 MHz channel that is occupied by thebroadcast trigger frame TR23 but is still within the transmissionbandwidth of preceding DL MU transmission 2002.

Specifically, an upper 5 MHz bandwidth 2012 of an upper 20 MHz bandwidthof an UL MU transmission 2010 is allocated to an UL response BA1 of thefirst station STA1, which is transmitted in response to triggerinformation included in the first DL data frame DLDATA1. A lower 15 MHzbandwidth 2014 of the upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission2010 is allocated to a UL data frame ULDATA2 of the second station STA2,which is a first data transmission performed in response to thebroadcast trigger frame TR23. A lower 20 MHz bandwidth 2016 of the UL MUtransmission 2010 is allocated to an UL data frame ULDATA3 of the thirdstation STA3, which is a second data transmission performed in responseto the broadcast trigger frame TR23.

FIG. 21 illustrates another example of bandwidth allocation according toan embodiment. In FIG. 21, an AP transmits DL data frame DLDATA1 to afirst station STA1 in a DL MU transmission 2102. The AP also schedulesrespective UL MU transmissions from a second station STA2 and a thirdstation STA3, and this scheduling information is indicated to the secondstation STA2 and the third station STA3 by sending a broadcast triggerframe TR23 to the second station STA2 and the third station STA3.

The first DL data frame DLDATA1 is transmitted using a lower 10 MHzbandwidth 2104 of an upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the DL MU transmission2102. The broadcast trigger frame TR23 is transmitted using a lower 20MHz bandwidth 2106 of the DL MU transmission 2102.

The scheduled resource for the second station STA2's UL transmissionoccupies bandwidth outside of 20 MHz channel that is occupied by thebroadcast trigger frame TR23 but is still within the 20 MHz channelsused by the preceding DL MU transmission 2102. In addition, thetransmission bandwidth (not including a preamble) of a UL MUtransmission 2110 sent in response to the DL MU transmission 2102 islarger than the transmission bandwidth (not including a preamble) of theDL MU transmission 2102, but the UL MU transmission 2110 occupies thesame 20 MHz channels occupied by the DL MU transmission 2102.

Specifically, an lower 5 MHz bandwidth 2112 of an upper 20 MHz bandwidthof an UL MU transmission 2110 is allocated to an UL response BA1 of thefirst station STA1, which is transmitted in response to triggerinformation included in the first DL data frame DLDATA1. An upper 15 MHzbandwidth 2114 of the upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the UL MU transmission2110 is allocated to a UL data frame ULDATA2 of the second station STA2,which is a first data transmission performed in response to thebroadcast trigger frame TR23. A lower 20 MHz bandwidth 2116 of the UL MUtransmission 2110 is allocated to an UL data frame ULDATA3 of the thirdstation STA3, which is a second data transmission performed in responseto the broadcast trigger frame TR23.

FIG. 22 illustrates another example of bandwidth allocation according toan embodiment. In FIG. 22, an AP transmits DL data frame DLDATA1 to afirst station STA1 in a DL MU transmission 2202. The AP also schedulesrespective UL MU transmissions from the second station STA2 and thethird station STA3, and this information is indicated to the secondstation STA2 and the third station STA3 by sending a broadcast triggerframe TR23 to the second station STA2 and the third station STA3.

The first DL data frame DLDATA1 is transmitted using an upper 10 MHzbandwidth 2204 of a lower 20 MHz bandwidth of the DL MU transmission2202. The broadcast trigger frame TR23 is transmitted using a lower 5MHz bandwidth 2206 of an upper 20 MHz bandwidth of the DL MUtransmission 2202.

The scheduled resource for the second station STA2's UL transmissionoccupies bandwidth outside of the 20 MHz channel that the broadcasttrigger frame TR23 was transmitted in but is still within thetransmission bandwidth of preceding DL MU transmission 2202. Thescheduled resource for the third station STA3's UL transmission alsooccupies bandwidth outside of the 20 MHz channel that the broadcasttrigger frame TR23 was transmitted in. In addition, the transmissionbandwidth of a UL MU transmission 2210 sent in response to the DL MUtransmission 2202 is larger than the transmission bandwidth of the DL MUtransmission 2202, but the UL MU transmission 2210 occupies a subset ofthe 20 MHz channels occupied by the DL MU transmission 2202.

Specifically, an upper 5 MHz bandwidth 2212 of the upper 10 MHz of 20MHz bandwidth of an UL MU transmission 2210 is allocated to an ULresponse BA1 of the first station STA1, which is transmitted in responseto trigger information included in the first DL data frame DLDATA1. Alower 5 MHz bandwidth 2214 of the upper 10 MHz of the 20 MHz bandwidthof the UL MU transmission 2210 is allocated to a UL data frame ULDATA2of the second station STA2, which is a first data transmission performedin response to the broadcast trigger frame TR23. A lower 10 MHzbandwidth 2216 of the UL MU transmission 2210 is allocated to an UL dataframe ULDATA3 of the third station STA3, which is a second datatransmission performed in response to the broadcast trigger frame TR23.An upper 20 MHz bandwidth used by the DL MU transmission 2202 is notused by the UL MU transmission 2210, that is, the UL MU transmission2210 is performed using only a 20 MHz channel.

FIG. 23 illustrates a process 2300 for performing MU communicationsaccording to an embodiment. The process 2300 may be performed by anAccess Point (AP).

At S2302, the process 2300 transmits a DL MU transmission occupying afirst bandwidth (BW). The DL MU transmission includes a first frame anda second frame. The first frame (for example, a trigger frame) isconfigured to solicit a first response frame from one or more stationsas an immediate response. The first frame occupies a second bandwidththat is a subset of the first bandwidth.

At S2304, the process 2300 receives an UL transmission having a thirdbandwidth in a first predetermined time after transmitting the DLtransmission. The third bandwidth is within one or more of the 20 MHzchannels of the first bandwidth.

The UL transmission includes the first response frame. The firstresponse frame occupies a fourth bandwidth within one or more 20 MHzchannels of the first bandwidth occupied by the DL MU transmission. Thefourth bandwidth is not the same and does not overlap with the secondbandwidth.

In an embodiment, the fourth bandwidth is within a first 20 MHz channelthat is the same second 20 MHz channel that includes the secondbandwidth.

In an embodiment, the third bandwidth is a subset of the firstbandwidth.

In an embodiment, the transmission bandwidth of a physical layerpreamble part of the first response frame is a subset of thetransmission bandwidth of a physical layer preamble part of the DLtransmission.

In an embodiment, the predetermined time is SIFS.

In an embodiment, information regarding the third bandwidth is indicatedin the first frame.

In an embodiment, the first frame and the second frame are allocated indifferent frequency resources.

Embodiments of the present disclosure enable an AP to more flexiblyutilize transmission bandwidth for UL MU PPDUs, compared to the IEEE Std802.11n and 802.11ac standards. As frequency resource can be flexiblyadapted depending on channel status, amount of traffic, and so on,overall spectrum efficiency can be improved relative to the IEEE Std802.11n and 802.11ac standards without additional signaling overhead.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when an AP sends a triggerframe that initiates random access and the AP does not receive anyimmediate response right after sending the trigger frame, a value of acontention window is left unchanged.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, an AP shall notallocate an UL subchannel in any 20 MHz channel of an UL transmissionthat is not occupied by a trigger frame in the DL transmission thatcauses the UL transmission, and in each 20 MHz channel occupied by thetrigger frame, there is at least one allocated subchannel in the ULtransmission that is not for random access.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, when an AP allocatesresources for an UL MU transmission and indicates the allocation in atrigger frame, and if there exists any non-allocated resources for UL MUtransmission, the AP can indicate a mode of operation that permits thenon-allocated resources to be used for random access.

FIG. 24 illustrates a process 2400 for performing an Up-Link (UL)multi-user (MU) simultaneous transmission in a Transmission Opportunity(TXOP).

In the process 2400, an Access Point (AP) transmits a trigger frame 2402as a timing reference. The AP sends the trigger frame 2402 as amulticast or broadcast transmission so that all of a plurality of targetUL MU transmitters (here, first, second and third stations STA1, STA2,and STA3) can recognize the trigger frame 2402.

A predetermined time T1 after receiving the trigger frame, the target ULMU transmitters simultaneously send respective UL MU data frames as aresponse. The first station STA1 transmits a first UL MU data frame2404, the second station STA2 transmits a second UL MU data frame 2406,and the third station STA3 transmits a third UL MU data frame 2408. Inembodiments, the UL MU data frames 2404, 2406, and 2408 may be UL MUMIMO frames or UL MU OFDMA frames.

Because all the target UL MU transmitters (or stations) STA1, STA2, andSTA3 received the trigger frame 2402 almost simultaneously and all thetarget UL MU transmitters STA1, STA2, and STA3 use the same delay of thepredetermined time T1, the transmission time of all the target UL MUtransmitters STA1, STA2, and STA3 can be synchronized, and thus, the APcan receive the UL MU data frames 2404, 2406, and 2408 sent by thetarget UL MU transmitters STA1, STA2, and STA3, respectively, in asynchronized manner.

After the AP correctly receives and decodes the UL MU data frames 2404,2406, and 2408, the AP may send one or more acknowledgement frames 2410to the target UL MU transmitters STA1, STA2, and STA3.

However, for the AP to determine proper scheduling or resourceallocation for a UL MU simultaneous transmission, the AP needs toidentify buffer status and related QoS information for each station thatis a candidate for participation in the UL MU simultaneous transmission.If a station is already being served by the AP, this information can bepiggybacked on ongoing UL data frames. However, in a number of UL MUoperation scenarios, the AP may need to schedule a UL MU transmissionfrom the time new packet bursts come to the station, in which case theremay be no ongoing UL data frame onto which the buffer status and relatedQoS information can be piggybacked.

When there is no ongoing UL data frame from a station and the AP needsto identify the buffer status and related QoS information, the stationmay need to first send the buffer status and related QoS information tothe AP. However, this buffer status and related QoS information mayoccupy a substantial amount of a wireless channel resource, imposing forthe UL MU transmission, and thereby will decrease the performance gainobtained using the UL MU transmission.

Accordingly, an AP may schedule a random access channel, wherein morethan one station can be allocated for UL MU transmission at a resourceallocation unit.

FIG. 25 illustrates a process 2500 for an UL MU transmission including arandom access channel according to an embodiment.

As shown in this drawing, an AP sends a first frame 2502, such as thetrigger frame that mentioned above, to a group of stations, wherein thefirst frame 2502 indicates a first information for the immediatelyfollowing UL OFDMA frame 2504, and wherein the first informationcomprises at least the following information:

-   -   An allocated resource structure. FIG. 25 shows N allocated        resources R(1) to R(N).    -   A mapping between stations and resource allocation units that is        not 1-to-1, and thus allows more than one station within the        group of stations to use a same resource for an UL MU        transmission, at least for one or more resources. In this        example, all the resources are allocated for this purpose, and        no resources is allocated to a specific station.    -   A transmission length.

As a response to the first frame 2502, stations within the group ofstations that have UL frames buffered send a UL OFDMA frame using one ofscheduled resource units (R(1), R(2), . . . , R(N)) a predetermined timeT1 after receiving the first frame 2502. The UL OFDMA frame may includea second information that helps the AP to schedule an UL MUtransmission, such as information about UL frames that are buffered.

In FIG. 25, two stations (the first station STA1 and the second STA2)have buffered data for the UL transmission, and the first station STA1chooses to use a first resource R(3) to send its buffered data orinformation about its buffered data, and the second station STA2 choosesto use a second resource R(N−1) to send its buffered data or informationabout its buffered data.

The first station STA1 transmits a first UL OFDMA frame 2504 a includinga first preamble 2506 a and a first payload 2508. The first preamble2506 a uses an entire bandwidth allocated to the UL OFDMA transmissionby the AP. The first payload 2508 uses only the bandwidth of the firstresource R(3).

The second station STA2 transmits a second UL OFDMA frame 2504 bincluding a second preamble 2506 b and a second payload 2510. The secondpreamble 2506 b uses an entire bandwidth allocated to the UL OFDMAtransmission by the AP and is the same as the first preamble 2506 a. Thesecond payload 2510 uses only the bandwidth of the second resourceR(N−1).

The UL OFDMA frames 2504 a and 2504 b, along with any UL OFDMA framessent by other stations in response to the first frame 2502, air-combinein the wireless channel to create the received UL OFDMA frames 2504 c.The received UL OFDMA frames 2504 c includes a received preamble 2506 cthat is identical to the preamble 2506 a and 2506 b. the received ULOFDMA frames 2504 c includes a received payload comprised of thepayloads 2508 and 2510 and any other payloads sent by other stations inresponse to the first frame 2502, when stations sending payloads chooserespective different resources to send the respective payloads.

As a response to the receiving the received UL OFDMA frame 2504 c fromone or more of the stations, the AP sends back an acknowledgement frame2514 a second predetermined time T2 after receiving the received ULOFDMA frame 2504 c.

In another embodiment, an AP may send a trigger frame for random accesssuch that there is no specific target receiver for the trigger frame. Inresponse to the trigger frame, any station that meets the requirementsfor the random access channel will send a UL MU PPDU as an immediateresponse (after a predetermined time) to the trigger frame. The AP maycheck every allocated resource of the random access channel to determinewhether any station has sent an UL MU PPDU in response to the triggerframe.

Because there is no specific station allocated for immediate response tothe trigger frame, it is possible that no station will respond to thetrigger frame, such as when no station has buffered UL data to transmit.This may occur even when every station received the trigger framecorrectly. As a result, according to the definitions of a transmissionfailure in the IEEE 802.11n and 802.11ac standards, the transmission ofthe trigger frame will be determined to have failed due to the AP notreceiving a required immediate response to the transmission of thetrigger frame. When this occurs, the IEEE 802.11n and 802.11ac standardsrequire a contention window to be extended, which reduces the AP'schance of accessing the wireless medium.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include apparatus and processesthat overcome these problems.

In an embodiment, when an AP sends a trigger frame that initiates randomaccess and the AP does not receive an immediate response within apredetermined time after sending the trigger frame, the value of thecontention window is left unchanged.

In the embodiment, a backoff procedure shall be invoked by an EnhancedDistributed Channel Access Function (EDCAF) when any of the followingevents occurs:

-   -   a) An MA-UNITDATA.request primitive is received that causes a        frame with that Access Category (AC) to be queued for        transmission such that one of the transmit queues associated        with that AC has now become nonempty and any other transmit        queues associated with that AC are empty, the medium is busy on        the primary channel as indicated by either physical or virtual        CS, and the backoff timer has a value of 0 for that AC.    -   b) The transmission of the MPDU in the final PPDU transmitted by        the transmission Opportunity (TXOP) holder during the TXOP for        that AC has completed and the TXNAV timer has expired, and the        AC was a primary AC. (See 10.22.2.2 of IEEE P802.11-REVmc/D5.2        (EDCA backoff procedure)).    -   c) The expected immediate response to the initial frame of a        TXOP of that AC is not received and the AC was a primary AC and        the initial frame is not a trigger frame that initiates random        access (that is, the initial frame is not a trigger frame that        has no resource scheduled to a specific station, or to put it        another way, the initial frame is either not a trigger frame or        is a trigger frame that includes a scheduling of a resource to a        specific station.)    -   d) The transmission attempt collides internally with another        EDCAF of an AC that has higher priority, that is, two or more        EDCAFs in the same station are granted a TXOP at the same time.    -   e) The expected immediate response to the initial frame that        initiates random access (with no resource scheduled to specific        station) of a TXOP is not received.

When the backoff procedure is invoked for either of reasons a) and e)above, the value of a Contention Window of the AC (CW[AC]) shall be leftunchanged.

When the backoff procedure is invoked because of reason b) above, thevalue of CW(AC) shall be reset to a predetermined minimum value of theContention Window for the AC (CWmin[AC]).

When the backoff procedure is invoked because of a failure event or thetransmission failure of a non-initial frame by the TXOP holder (that is,either of reason c or d above), the value of CW[AC] shall be updated asfollows before invoking the backoff procedure:

-   -   When a QoS short retry counter for the AC (QSRC[AC]) or a QoS        long retry counter for the AC (QLRC[AC]) has reached        dot11ShortRetryLimit or dot11LongRetryLimit, respectively,        CW[AC] shall be reset to CWmin[AC].    -   When a dot11RobustAVStreamingImplemented parameter is true and        either the QSDRC[AC] or the QLDRC[AC] has reached        dot11ShortDEIRetryLimit or dot11LongDEIRetryLimit, respectively,        CW[AC] shall be reset to CWmin[AC].    -   Otherwise, when CW[AC] is less than a predetermined maximum        value of the Contention Window for the AC (CWmax[AC]), CW[AC]        shall be set to the value (CW[AC]+1)×2−1, and when CW[AC] is        equal to CWmax[AC], CW[AC] shall be left unchanged.

The following drawings shows example scenarios for the proposedembodiment.

FIG. 26A illustrates an AP initiating a TXOP by sending a data frame2602 according to an embodiment. A first station STA1 is the targetreceiver of the data frame 2602.

When the first station STA1 does not send an ACK frame in apredetermined time T1, the AP determines that a transmission failure ofthe data frame 2602 has occurred, and as a result the AP shall invokebackoff. When a CW(AC) of the AC of the data frame 2602 has not reachedthe CWmax(AC), the AP may extend the CW(AC) such that new CW[AC] equalsto (CW[AC]+1)×2−1.

FIG. 26B illustrates an AP initiating a TXOP by sending a trigger frame2604 which initiates random access and does not include any resourcescheduled to specific stations, according to an embodiment. In thisexample, there are three stations (stations STA1, STA2, and STA3) thatsuccessfully receive the trigger frame correctly. However, in theexample, none of the stations STA1, STA2, and STA3 have UL buffered dataframe to send, and as a result none of the stations STA1, STA2, and STA3send back any frame using a resource allocated to random access.

When the AP does not receive any frame that is an immediate response tothe trigger Frame 2604 within the predetermined time T1 after sendingthe trigger frame 2604, then because the frame that initiated the TXOPwas a trigger frame for random access that does not include any resourcescheduled to specific one or more stations, the AP shall invoke abackoff using an unchanged CW[AC].

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a first station sends afirst frame that initiates a TXOP, wherein the target receiver of thefirst frame is not uniquely specified, and the first station does notreceive any immediate response in a predetermined time after sending thefirst frame, the station invokes a backoff procedure, wherein the valueof the contention window is left unchanged from the previous contentionwindow.

The predetermined time may be a SIFS time defined in an IEEE 802.11standard.

The first frame may include an indication that all participating stationshall use a predetermined MCS level.

In an embodiment, the Receiver Address (RA) field of the first frame maybe a broadcast address and the first frame may include resourceallocation information indicating that more than one stations can use anallocated resource to participate in an immediate response.

In an embodiment, more than one stations can participate using any orall of the allocated resources.

In another embodiment, an AP shall not allocate a UL subchannel in any20 MHz channel of an UL transmission that is not occupied by acorresponding trigger frame, and in each 20 MHz channel occupied by arespective trigger frame, there is at least one allocated subchannelthat is not for random access.

In another embodiment, an AP shall not allocate a UL subchannel in any20 MHz channel of an UL transmission that is not occupied by acorresponding trigger frame, and in each 20 MHz channel occupied by arespective trigger frame, there is at least one allocated subchannelthat is not for random access when the AP allocates at least one ULsubchannel that is not for random access in any 20 MHz channel that isoccupied by the trigger frame, that is, for any 20 MHz channel that isoccupied by a trigger frame, unless all of the UL subchannels of the 20MHz channel are allocated to random access, at least one UL subchannelof the 20 MHz channel is allocated to a purpose other than randomaccess.

FIG. 27 illustrates an operation 2700 of an UL MU transmission includingrandom access channels according to an embodiment. In FIG. 27, a triggerframe 2702 directs a set of stations, including first and secondstations STA1 and STA2, to transmit UL MU PPDUs as an immediate responseto the trigger frame 2702. The transmitted UL MU PPDUs comprise a UL MUtransmission 2710.

The trigger frame 2702 includes information regarding the allocatedresources (for example, subchannels) for the stations to use in the ULMU transmission 2710. One or more of the resources are random accessresources allocated to stations that are not uniquely specified, thatis, a plurality of stations are all allocated at least one same randomaccess resource for use in the UL MU transmission 2710.

The information in the trigger frame 2702 allocates resources in anupper part 2716 of a primary 20 MHz channels and an resources in upperpart 2712 of a secondary 20 MHz channels for random access. As a result,any station receiving the trigger frame 2702 may send UL MU frames tothe AP using one or more of the resources allocated for random access.

The information in the trigger frame 2702 allocates lower parts of theprimary and secondary 20 MHz channels to unique stations: the lower part2718 of the primary 20 MHz channel is allocated to a first station STA1,and the lower part 2714 of the secondary 20 MHz channel is allocated tothe second station STA2. As a result, each of the 20 MHz channelsoccupied by the trigger frame 2702 has at least one target stationdirected to send, as a response to the AP's transmission of the triggerframe 2702, an immediate response frame using the 20 MHz channel.

This channel allocation performed by the information in the triggerframe 2702 allows UL MU transmission in a random access fashion.Therefore, as long as the target stations that are uniquely allocatedresources (here, the first and second stations STA1 and STA2) receiveand respond to the trigger frame 2702 correctly, an immediate responseframe will occupy each of the 20 MHz channels used by the operation 2700for the duration of the UL MU transmission 2710, which prevents athird-party station from acquiring access to the wireless medium duringthe duration of the UL MU transmission 2710.

In an embodiment, a first station sends a first frame occupying a firsttransmission bandwidth. The first frame indicates that more than onestations are allowed to transmit frames as immediate responses occupyingdifferent resources, as part of an UL MU transmission. All of theallocated resources are within the first transmission bandwidth. Atleast one resource in the primary 20 MHz channel is allocated to asecond station and to no other station.

In an embodiment, only one station may be uniquely allocated for a firstpart of resources in the primary 20 MHz channel, and more than onestations may be allowed to participate in the UL MU transmission using asecond part of resources in the primary 20 MHz channel.

In an embodiment, the first frame further indicates that any stationthat satisfies a first condition can participate in the UL MUtransmission using the second part of resources in the primary 20 MHzchannel.

In an embodiment, the second part of resources in the primary 20 MHzchannel is allocated for random access.

In an embodiment, no station is allocated in the second part ofresources in the primary 20 MHz channel.

In an embodiment, different resources are allocated in an OFDMA manner.

In an embodiment, different resources are allocated in a MU-MIMO manner.

In an embodiment, different resources are allocated in a combination ofan OFDMA and a MU-MIMO manner.

In another embodiment, the first frame further indicates that in every20 MHz channel within the first transmission bandwidth, a respectivestation is uniquely allocated at least one resource of the 20 MHzchannel.

In an embodiment, only one station is uniquely allocated for the firstpart of resources in every 20 MHz channel within the first transmissionbandwidth, and more than one stations are allowed to participate in thesecond part of resources in every 20 MHz channel within the firsttransmission bandwidth.

In an embodiment, no station is allocated in the second part ofresources in every 20 MHz channel within the first transmissionbandwidth.

In an embodiment, a first part of resources in a first 20 MHz channelwithin the first transmission bandwidth is different from a first partof resources in a second 20 MHz channel within the first transmissionbandwidth.

In an embodiment, a second part of resources in a first 20 MHz channelwithin the first transmission bandwidth is different from a second partof resources in a second 20 MHz channel within the first transmissionbandwidth.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, when an AP allocatesresources for a UL MU transmission and indicates the allocation in atrigger frame, and there exists one or more non-allocated resources forthe UL MU transmission, the AP can indicate a mode of operation whereinthe left-over (that is, non-allocated) resources can be used for randomaccess. In an embodiment, the group of resources may include resourcesallocated for use for random access.

FIG. 28 illustrates an allocation of building blocks in a frame whereinunallocated resources may be used for random access, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 28 illustrates a plurality of building blocks, that is, resourcesthat can be individually allocated, of a 40 MHz transmission accordingto an embodiment. The building blocks may be building blocks defined inan IEEE 802.11ax specification framework document.

The bandwidth of each building blocks can be different. For example,building blocks R1 a-R1 r have respective 2 MHz bandwidths, buildingblocks R2 a-R2 h have respective 4 MHz bandwidths, building blocks R3a-R3 d have respective 8 MHz bandwidths, building blocks R4 a and R4 bhave respective 20 MHz bandwidths, and single user allocation buildingblock R5 a occupies an entire transmission bandwidth.

Although FIG. 28 indicates specific numbers and bandwidths for thebuilding blocks, embodiments are not limited thereto.

When a building block is allocated, other building blocks that share oneor more resources of the allocated building block cannot be allocated.For example, if building block R2 g is allocated to a station, thenbuilding blocks R1 o, R1 p, R3 d, R4 b, and R5 a cannot be allocated toa station or to random access.

An AP can select resource allocations for an OFDMA transmission that arecombinations of different building blocks. In this example, an APallocates resources to a first station STA1 and a second station STA2for an UL MU OFDMA transmission. The first station STA1 is allocatedresources of the building block R3 a having an 8 MHz bandwidth, and thesecond station STA2 is allocated resources of the building block R2 ghaving a 4 MHz bandwidth.

In the embodiment, an AP includes in a trigger frame only resourceallocation information for first resources to which only one respectivestation is uniquely assigned. Therefore, for the allocation shown inFIG. 28, the trigger frame comprises information allocating theresources in the building blocks R3 a and R2 g. For these resources, thetrigger frame further includes an indication of the respective assignedstations.

In addition, the AP may include in the trigger frame an indication thatnon-allocated resources can be used for random access. When thisindication is included, each station receiving the trigger frame canparticipate the UL MU OFDMA transmission using one or more of resourcesthat are not in the first resources, assuming a predetermined bandwidthfor the one or more resources.

In this example, the predetermined bandwidth for the resource may be aminimum bandwidth of available building blocks (here, for example, 2MHz). Therefore, excluding the first resources, other resources (R1 e-R1n, R1 q, and R1 r) can be used by any station receiving the triggerframe to participate in a random access upload as part of the UL MUOFDMA transmission. Participating stations may use a predetermined MCSlevel and a predetermined number of spatial streams (N_STS), and as aresult the trigger frame does not need to include detailed informationfor the resources that are available for random access.

In an embodiment, an AP shall not allocate UL subchannel in any 20 MHzchannel that is not occupied by the trigger frame, and in each 20 MHzchannel occupied by the trigger frame, there is at least one allocatedsubchannel for UL transmission, and non-allocated subchannels can beused for random access.

In an embodiment, an AP sends a first frame, wherein the first framecomprises information on a first group of resources of a UL MU OFDMAtransmission. The resources in the first group of resources areallocated to respective stations, and no resource in the first group ofresources is allocated to more than one station. The first frameincludes an indication that stations that satisfy a first condition areallowed to participate in the UL MU OFDMA transmission using any ofresources within a second group of resources. The AP receives UL framesas part of an UL MU OFDMA from one or more stations in a predeterminedtime from the end of the transmission of the first frame.

In an embodiment, the first group of resources and the second group ofresources are within the transmission bandwidth of the first frame.

In an embodiment, no resources belong to both the first group ofresources and the second group of resources simultaneously.

In an embodiment, the allocated bandwidth of the resources within thesecond group of resources is the minimum bandwidth that can beallocated.

In an embodiment, resources within the second group of resources use aDiscrete Fourier Transform (DFT) period of 12.8 μs and a subcarrierspacing of 78.125 kHz, and uses 26 tones with 2 pilots (24 data tones).

In an embodiment, stations transmitting using one or more resources ofthe second group of resources use a predetermined Modulation and CodingScheme (MCS) level and number of streams. The predetermined MCS may beBinary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation with code rate of ½. Thepredetermined number of streams may be 1.

In an embodiment, each 20 MHz channel occupied by the first frameincludes at least one resource that is within the first group ofresources.

In an embodiment, the predetermined time is a SIFS defined in an IEEE802.11 standard.

In an embodiment, the predetermined time is longer than a SIFS andshorter than a PIFS defined in an IEEE 802.11 standard.

In an embodiment, the predetermined time is a PIFS defined in an IEEE802.11 standard.

In an embodiment, the first frame further comprises a first informationcorresponding to identification of the assigned stations to theresources that are within the first group of stations. The firstinformation may include at least part of association IDs (AIDs) of therespective assigned stations.

Embodiments of the present disclosure enable an AP to maintain areasonable contention window even when no stations send back UL framesusing random access. Embodiments prevent third party stations frominterfering with a TXOP of a station when no stations send back ULframes using random access. Embodiments reduce overhead in a triggerframe that initiates an UL MU transmission when the trigger frame isused by an AP to schedule both random access and scheduled access.

The solutions provided herein have been described with reference to awireless LAN system; however, it should be understood that thesesolutions are also applicable to other network environments, such ascellular telecommunication networks, wired networks, etc.

The above explanation and figures are applied to an HE station, an HEframe, an HE PPDU, an HE-SIG field and the like of the IEEE 802.11axamendment, but they can also applied to a receiver, a frame, PPDU, a SIGfield, and the like of the next amendment of IEEE 802.11. Furthermore,some embodiments have been described with respect to a secondarychannel, but embodiments are not limited thereto.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include electronic devicesconfigured to perform one or more of the operations described herein.However, embodiments are not limited thereto.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include systemsconfigured to operate using the processes described herein. The systemsmay include basic service sets (BSSs) such as the BSSs 100 of FIG. 1,but embodiments are not limited thereto.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in the form ofprogram instructions executable through various computer means, such asa processor or microcontroller, and recorded in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readable mediummay include one or more of program instructions, data files, datastructures, and the like. The program instructions may be adapted toexecute the processes and to generate and decode the frames describedherein when executed on a device such as the wireless devices shown inFIG. 1.

In an embodiment, the non-transitory computer-readable medium mayinclude a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), or aflash memory. In an embodiment, the non-transitory computer-readablemedium may include a magnetic, optical, or magneto-optical disc such asa hard disk drive, a floppy disc, a CD-ROM, and the like.

In some cases, an embodiment of the invention may be an apparatus (e.g.,an AP station, a non-AP station, or another network or computing device)that includes one or more hardware and software logic structure forperforming one or more of the operations described herein. For example,as described above, the apparatus may include a memory unit, whichstores instructions that may be executed by a hardware processorinstalled in the apparatus. The apparatus may also include one or moreother hardware or software elements, including a network interface, adisplay device, etc.

While this invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be practical embodiments, embodiments are notlimited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, may includevarious modifications and equivalent arrangements included within thespirit and scope of the appended claims. The order of operationsdescribed in a process is illustrative and some operations may bere-ordered. Further, two or more embodiments may be combined.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented by an Access Point (AP) forperforming a Multi-User (MU) transmission, the method comprising:allocating, by the AP, a plurality of resources of an Up-Link (UL) MUtransmission to a first plurality of stations; and transmitting, by theAP using one or more 20 MHz channels, a Down-Link (DL) PHY LayerConvergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the DLPPDU includes trigger information, the trigger information solicitingthe first plurality of stations to participate in the UL MU transmissionusing the allocated resources, wherein all of the allocated resourcesare in the one or more 20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the allocated resources include at least one resourcein each of the one or more 20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein a transmission bandwidth of a physical layerpreamble part of the response frame is the same as the transmissionbandwidth of a physical layer preamble part of the DL PPDU.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the trigger information is represented in atrigger Medium Access Control (MAC) Data Protocol Unit (MPDU) thatsolicits a response frame from a station of the first plurality ofstations, and further comprising: allocating a resource of the UL MUtransmission to the response frame, wherein the resource is outside of abandwidth of the trigger MPDU.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thebandwidth of the trigger MPDU is a physical layer bandwidth, within theone or more 20 MHz channels, in which the trigger MPDU is physicallyencoded.
 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising including a secondMPDU in the DL PPDU, wherein the second MPDU is different from thetrigger MPDU and occupies a different bandwidth from the trigger MPDU.7. The method of claim 4, further comprising including an indication ofa bandwidth of the UL MU transmission in the trigger MPDU.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the UL MU transmission is a UL Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (OFDMA) transmission.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: including, by the AP, an indication in the triggerinformation that all portions of the one or more 20 MHz channels of theDL PPDU that are unallocated to a station for the UL MU transmissionpermit random access in the UL MU transmission.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein in each 20 MHz channel at least one resource is allocated inthe UL MU transmission that is not allocated for random access.
 11. Anapparatus comprising an Access Point (AP), the AP configured to:allocate a plurality of resources of an Up-Link (UL) MU transmission toa first plurality of stations; and transmit, using one or more 20 MHzchannels, a Down-Link (DL) PHY Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP)Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the DL PPDU includes triggerinformation, the trigger information soliciting the first plurality ofstations to participate in the UL MU transmission using the allocatedresources, wherein the allocated resources include at least one resourcein each of the one or more 20 MHz channels.
 12. The apparatus of claim11, wherein all of the allocated resources are in the one or more 20 MHzchannels of the DL PPDU.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein atransmission bandwidth of a physical layer preamble part of the responseframe is the same as the transmission bandwidth of a physical layerpreamble part of the DL PPDU.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein thetrigger information is represented in a trigger Medium Access Control(MAC) Data Protocol Unit (MPDU) that solicits a response frame from astation of the first plurality of stations, and wherein the AP isconfigured to: allocate a resource of the UL MU transmission to theresponse frame, wherein the resource is outside of a bandwidth of thetrigger MPDU.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the bandwidth ofthe trigger MPDU is a physical layer bandwidth, within the one or more20 MHz channels, in which the trigger MPDU is physically encoded. 16.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the AP is configured to include asecond MPDU in the DL PPDU, and wherein the second MPDU is differentfrom the trigger MPDU and occupies a different bandwidth from thetrigger MPDU.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the AP isconfigured to include an indication of a bandwidth of the UL MUtransmission in the trigger MPDU.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe UL MU transmission is a UL Orthogonal Frequency Division MultipleAccess (OFDMA) transmission.
 19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theAP is configured to include an indication in the trigger informationthat all portions of the one or more 20 MHz channels of the DL PPDU thatare unallocated to a station for the UL MU transmission permit randomaccess in the UL MU transmission.
 20. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinin each 20 MHz channel at least one resource is allocated in the UL MUtransmission that is not allocated for random access.